The Biden administration is restarting a stalled visa programme for Cubans and will allow more flights and visits to the island, in a softening of the harder line against the communist island taken by former president Donald Trump.

President Joe Biden’s decision comes after a more than year-long review of his policy toward the country, the economy of which has been squeezed by the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pushing a spike in Cuban migration to the US.

His administration said it will aim to issue 20,000 visas under a family reunification program for Cubans to join their kin in the US. It will also permit more commercial flights to destinations beyond Havana for group educational trips and lift a $1,000 limit on quarterly remittances.