"I have hope, but I'll believe it when I'm sitting in an airplane."
Cubans formed long lines outside travel agencies and migration offices in Havana on Monday as a highly anticipated new law took effect ending the island's much-hated exit visa requirement.
The measure means the end of both real and symbolic obstacles to travel by islanders, though it is not expected to result in a mass exodus. Most Cubans are now eligible to leave with just a current passport and national identity card, just like residents of other countries.
It's a tangible benefit for people like Ester Ricardo, a 68-year-old Havana resident who was granted a U.S. tourist visa but denied an exit permit. She queued up early outside the office of a charter airline eager to book a flight to Miami as soon as possible.
"My niece invited me, so I'm going on a family visit," said Ricardo, who plans to be in Florida for around six months. "I'm not going to stay forever. I have a daughter here."
Read more at the Miami Herald.