Traveling to Cuba from the US
July 5, 2013 5:02 PM Subscribe
My father (who emigrated from Cuba 30 years ago) and I are interested in visiting Cuba eventually. What exactly do you have to do to (legally) travel there?
Is it something like getting a license from the Treasury department, booking a flight with a sanctioned airline/charter company, getting the Cuban visa (at the arriving airport), and then....?
I understand there's travel agencies that do the paperwork for you, shove you around places to do cultural / "people to people" activities, but they're pretty pricy and I hate tours. Also, since my dad has actually lived in Cuba, he would much prefer to visit old friends and acquaintances and wander at his own pace. (We probably don't have any relatives living there anymore, so I doubt we can apply for a visiting relatives license.)
That said, my dad has an old friend who supposedly visits Cuba every year by flying to Cuba via Cancun. Do people still go through a third country? Though really, since it's (supposedly) easier nowadays with lessened travel restrictions, I'd rather not risk it.
Thanks for any help! If you have some experience with travel agencies, please post anyway.
Is it something like getting a license from the Treasury department, booking a flight with a sanctioned airline/charter company, getting the Cuban visa (at the arriving airport), and then....?
I understand there's travel agencies that do the paperwork for you, shove you around places to do cultural / "people to people" activities, but they're pretty pricy and I hate tours. Also, since my dad has actually lived in Cuba, he would much prefer to visit old friends and acquaintances and wander at his own pace. (We probably don't have any relatives living there anymore, so I doubt we can apply for a visiting relatives license.)
That said, my dad has an old friend who supposedly visits Cuba every year by flying to Cuba via Cancun. Do people still go through a third country? Though really, since it's (supposedly) easier nowadays with lessened travel restrictions, I'd rather not risk it.
Thanks for any help! If you have some experience with travel agencies, please post anyway.
The Mexico route works.... My husband just recently went with my brother who was doing a mission trip. All Legit, apparently mission and educational trips are still allowed. He LOVED it.
posted by pearlybob at 5:48 PM on July 5, 2013
posted by pearlybob at 5:48 PM on July 5, 2013
Seems like "the Mexico route" and allowed mission or educational trips are not the same thing. That is, if you're doing a perfectly legal trip (for which you have a license) then you don't need the Mexico or any other special third country route. The purpose of going through another country is that, hopefully, they will agree not to not stamp your passport when you come back to it (so it looks as if you've only been to e.g. Mexico and didn't have to come *back* there from someplace else that you're not telling about!).
I haven't done any of this myself, but I've been doing some research into it. What I hear is that if you're caught (and few immigration officers are dealing with this anymore, I read -- they have "other priorities") you might have to pay a fine, which could be $1000 or so.
It does scare me though. I have also looked into the tours and boy are they expensive (for my family, anyway).
posted by DMelanogaster at 6:13 PM on July 5, 2013
I haven't done any of this myself, but I've been doing some research into it. What I hear is that if you're caught (and few immigration officers are dealing with this anymore, I read -- they have "other priorities") you might have to pay a fine, which could be $1000 or so.
It does scare me though. I have also looked into the tours and boy are they expensive (for my family, anyway).
posted by DMelanogaster at 6:13 PM on July 5, 2013
I traveled to Cuba several years ago. My organization had to request permission from the federal government and it was rather labor-intensive (for someone, not me) resulting in several thick packets being sent on my behalf. After I received permission, it was a cinch - I boarded a flight in Miami and flew directly to Cuba.
Also, FWIW - they stamped my passport. I initially worried I'd get hassled, but when Customs so DID NOT CARE I started asking about it (yes, I only did this when I potentially had hours to spare). I did this maybe 6 times before I got bored and no one, not one single person cared that I had a Cuba stamp in my U.S. passport. They didn't care if I did it legally or not, they just didn't care.
posted by arnicae at 7:07 PM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also, FWIW - they stamped my passport. I initially worried I'd get hassled, but when Customs so DID NOT CARE I started asking about it (yes, I only did this when I potentially had hours to spare). I did this maybe 6 times before I got bored and no one, not one single person cared that I had a Cuba stamp in my U.S. passport. They didn't care if I did it legally or not, they just didn't care.
posted by arnicae at 7:07 PM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Just FYI, the Mexico route is completely separate from what my husband and brother did. They had no trouble getting the proper authorization for the purposes of their trip, went through panama, had complete permissions and approval. It was simple and no one batted an eye. We have friends who have done the Mexico thing but other than they got in and out with no issue, I don't know details.
posted by pearlybob at 7:21 PM on July 5, 2013
posted by pearlybob at 7:21 PM on July 5, 2013
I understand there's travel agencies that do the paperwork for you, shove you around places to do cultural / "people to people" activities, but they're pretty pricy and I hate tours. Also, since my dad has actually lived in Cuba, he would much prefer to visit old friends and acquaintances and wander at his own pace. (We probably don't have any relatives living there anymore, so I doubt we can apply for a visiting relatives license.)
I've been to Cuba 3 times as part of a State-Department-sanctioned event (the Pan American Masters bicycling competition - my Dad competes, I just tagged along as team support). Since I wasn't competing, I was free to wander at my own pace, so, not every package tour is going to police your every move. I'm sure that many of them are just there as a means of getting tourists & their money in past the State Department regulations. But, I think one reason the package can be so pricey is because you're paying upfront for a lot of things that on most vacations you'd be charging daily (like meals at the hotel), since you can't use a US-bank credit card/ATM due to the embargo.
I don't know what the legal risks or consequences are for a U.S. citizen going to Cuba without permission by sneaking through another country, but I'd be more worried about the financial risk of not having the bulk of your food & lodging expenses paid for ahead of time so you don't burn through your cash before it's time to fly home. If your Dad's old friend goes every year, he must have friends & contacts already, and I would grill him for details on where he stays & how he deals with the credit embargo issue.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:50 PM on July 5, 2013
I've been to Cuba 3 times as part of a State-Department-sanctioned event (the Pan American Masters bicycling competition - my Dad competes, I just tagged along as team support). Since I wasn't competing, I was free to wander at my own pace, so, not every package tour is going to police your every move. I'm sure that many of them are just there as a means of getting tourists & their money in past the State Department regulations. But, I think one reason the package can be so pricey is because you're paying upfront for a lot of things that on most vacations you'd be charging daily (like meals at the hotel), since you can't use a US-bank credit card/ATM due to the embargo.
I don't know what the legal risks or consequences are for a U.S. citizen going to Cuba without permission by sneaking through another country, but I'd be more worried about the financial risk of not having the bulk of your food & lodging expenses paid for ahead of time so you don't burn through your cash before it's time to fly home. If your Dad's old friend goes every year, he must have friends & contacts already, and I would grill him for details on where he stays & how he deals with the credit embargo issue.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:50 PM on July 5, 2013
You can also go to Cuba from Canada. When a friend did this the Cuban customs people stamped a piece of paper, not his passport. Amusingly, they asked him if he was from Canada, or from "Southern Canada."
posted by jasper411 at 8:56 PM on July 5, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by jasper411 at 8:56 PM on July 5, 2013 [5 favorites]
My photographer cousin was able to go on an artist visa in the Clinton years.
posted by brujita at 9:16 PM on July 5, 2013
posted by brujita at 9:16 PM on July 5, 2013
You can also go to Cuba from Canada.
Not legally for US citizens. OP asked for "legal."
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:59 PM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Not legally for US citizens. OP asked for "legal."
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:59 PM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I went legally with librarians on an educational tour, and my experience was like arnicae's. We did tour the us interest section in Havana (one building). The attache told us that the section renders aid to any Americans there, regardless of whether they arrived legally or not. So, if you go, you will have some backup even if everything goes bad (which it likely wont!).
Educational trips and mission trips require you to spend a specific percent of time doing education or mission work. While legal, this hardly seems like what you want.
posted by holyrood at 10:36 PM on July 5, 2013
Educational trips and mission trips require you to spend a specific percent of time doing education or mission work. While legal, this hardly seems like what you want.
posted by holyrood at 10:36 PM on July 5, 2013
From a MeFite who would prefer to remain anon:
We probably don't have any relatives living there anymore, so I doubt we can apply for a visiting relatives licenseposted by jessamyn at 2:03 PM on August 1, 2013
You might be surprised. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (or OFAC, the Treasury Department branch that enforces embargo rules) has a pretty broad definition of who constitutes relatives:
"OFAC has issued a general license authorizing travel-related transactions for visits to "close relatives" (close relatives include, for example, aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins) who are nationals of Cuba."
So if you can identify even a second cousin still on the island to visit, you should qualify for a general license, which does not require an application at all.
Companies that offer travel services to Cuba are experts on this and should be able to advise you best. Suggest you contact one of them. Here's a list (PDF).
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If I was going to do it, I'd probably go with this (rather pricey) Nat Geo Expedition but I know that's probably not what you're after.
posted by blaneyphoto at 5:44 PM on July 5, 2013