Cuba Visas and Documentation

Visas and Documentation

Visa and legal issues A tourist visa card (visada tarjeta del turista) is necessary for travellers from most nations. This visa, which is really little more than a piece of paper on which you list your vital statistics, costs about 25 CUC (or 25 Euro) depending on where purchased. It is important to note that there is also a departure tax of CUC 25, and you have to pay those 25 CUC in cash at the airport, when leaving Cuba. So save 25 CUC in your passport after arriving in Cuba. You will need a passport valid at least six months past the end of your planned return. The tourist visa is usually valid for 30 days and can be extended for another 30 days at any immigration office in Cuba. It can usually be extended once, afterwards you need a serious reason when you want a second extension. Canadians get 90 days and can apply for a 90 day extension. On arrival you must already have a legal housing booking (hotel or casa particular) for at least three days. If you've written in the name of a good hotel on the tourist card, the officials should rarely ask for proof. Cuban customs regulations may seem strict, but in practice, tourists are rarely checked. But this doesn't mean they are not checked at all; they will go over your personal details carefully. United States citizens Although the government of Cuba permits U.S. citizens to visit, the U.S. itself restricts its citizens from traveling there, except with a license issued by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The specific restriction is against spending money in Cuba, however U.S. authorities consider any visit of more than one day to be prima facie proof that one has spent money there. Furthermore, OFAC also holds that U.S. citizens also may not receive goods or services for free from any Cuban national, eliminating any attempts to circumvent the regulation based on that premise. Licenses are granted to certain classes of people for particular purposes, however. A general license (i.e. no paperwork) applies – if certain requirements are met – for professional journalists on assignment, official government business (including international organizations), academic research, and international professional conferences. You can apply for a specific permit for visiting immediate relatives, college-sponsored educational programs, organizational religious activities, humanitarian projects, freelance journalism, not-for-profit cultural exhibitions, amateur athletic competitions, and several other specific purposes. U.S. citizens whose primary interest is tourism can get authorization to travel under the auspices of a program whose activities are sufficiently religious, educational, cultural, or otherwise exempt to qualify for a license. It is even possible for an individual with a credible background in, say, freelance journalism or academics, to craft a "mission" for their visit which successfully gets them a permit. Further details and forms are available from the U.S. Dept. of State {2}. Some U.S. citizens instead travel without a license, doing so by way of other countries (many of which have routine flights to and from Cuba) to escape detection. Cuban travel agents now recommend against using Canada or the Bahamas as a gateway, since U.S. pre-clearance customs agents in Toronto, Montreal, and Nassau are said to actively look for U.S. citizens getting off planes from Cuba. Mexico is considered a safer route, although not entirely without risk; two Mexican entry stamps in your passport without an intervening stamp from another country (Cuba doesn't stamp U.S. passports) would raise suspicions. Some take advantage of the soon-to-end ability to travel between the U.S. and Mexico with just a photo ID, presenting their passport only for the Mexico/Cuba leg of their travels. U.S. citizens also travel via countries without U.S. customs stations (Guatemala, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Haiti, etc.) to reduce the likelihood of being caught. A substantial number simply take their chances, hoping they will not be questioned. U.S. citizens are advised by Cuban travel agents not to bring back anything identifiably Cuban, and to dispose of all Cuban tickets and receipts before re-entering the country. U.S. citizens caught traveling to Cuba without a license will not be denied re-entry, but may be subject to fines of several thousand dollars and/or criminal prosecution. Perjury can be added to the charges if you falsely report your travels (i.e. omiting Cuba) upon re-entry, which leads some travelers to give an honest declaration along with an attempt to justify their visit under the general license if they come under scrutiny. Exercising your Fifth-Amendment right to silence may also come in handy when filling out forms or answering questions whose answers might incriminate you. Many violators successfully avoid fines by contesting the notices, with the government backing down rather than putting the effort into prosecution and testing their restrictions in court. (The constitutionality of OFAC's "presumption of guilt" regarding spending money in Cuba has not been tested in the courts thus far.) Currently, the National Lawyers Guild and the Center for Constitutional Rights provide legal representation for U.S. citizens accused of violating these restrictions. Whether or not a traveller has a license to visit, it is illegal to bring into the U.S. any Cuban cigars; cigars without labels may be presumed to be Cuban, and confiscated. Violating this is likely to compound unlicensed travelers' woes, making them easier targets for prosecution.