[4] The preference system allows U.S. citizens to bring their siblings and their adult married children to the United States.

Those who have been persecuted in Cuba, or who fear persecution (on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion), may apply for U.S. resettlement through its in country refugee processing unit at the United States Embassy in Havana.

The lottery provided an additional avenue of legal migration to a diverse group of Cubans, including those who might not have close relatives in the United States.

[5] In practice, the US enabled migration using the parole authority of the Attorney General for any Cuban that reached the US.

Prior to 1995, the U.S. government allowed all Cubans who reached U.S. territorial waters to remain in the U.S.