Opapeleo — Cuban Consular Services 100% Online

The challenge

Cuban consular procedures have always been an in-person, slow and bureaucratic process. Renewing a passport, legalizing documents or processing a travel authorization required trips to the consulate, endless queues and weeks of waiting. Opapeleo, located just steps from the Cuban Consulate in Washington D.C., set out to eliminate those barriers by becoming the first agency to offer these services entirely online.

The technical challenge was twofold: building an e-commerce platform capable of handling dozens of different procedure types — each with its own document requirements — and creating a transaction portal where users could complete the entire process digitally, including document signing.

Our solution

We developed a complete digital ecosystem built on WordPress and WooCommerce as the commercial foundation, complemented by an independent transaction portal for procedure management.

Service catalogue

• Cuban passport: renewal, extension and first-time issuance, all manageable online
• Visas and permits: entry visa processing, minor travel authorizations and DVT
• Legalizations: documents legalized with consular validity
• Powers of attorney: representation powers with legally valid digital signatures
• Citizenship: Cuban citizenship procedure management

Digital experience

• Digital signatures directly from the browser, compatible with finger (mobile) and mouse (desktop)
• Document upload and validation with real-time requirement verification
• Tracking dashboard so users can check the status of their procedure at any time
• Bilingual platform (Spanish and English) tailored to the Cuban community in the U.S.

Customer support

• Call center operating 7 days a week integrated with the digital platform
• Bilingual support to resolve queries at any point in the process

Results

Opapeleo has established itself as the benchmark for online Cuban consular services, with a 4.9-star Google rating backed by over 7,500 verified reviews. Its community exceeds 32,000 Facebook followers, reflecting the trust they have earned within the Cuban community in the United States. The complete digitization of the process has eliminated the need for in-person visits, allowing users from any state to manage their procedures from home.

Tech stack

• WordPress (main website and content)
• WooCommerce (service catalogue and payments)
• Custom transaction portal (tramites.opapeleo.com)
• Browser-based digital signatures (finger/mouse)
• Call center integration
• Bilingual infrastructure (ES/EN)