Traveling to Cuba

If you need to go to Cuba I have the website for yor her is part of this helpful artical about Cuba...

Traveling to Cuba can be one of those life transforming experiences. Here we present some practical information to help make that a reality. There are always two aspects of going to Cuba, the part having to do with the Cuban government, of course, and, especially in the case of the US, the part having to do with your country of residence.

For the Cuban government end, see Cuban Government sites in Cuba, Cuban Interests Section in Washington DC, and Cuban Law, Visas, & Security. If you are a Cuban American living in the US, see the very informative new site by the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, DC. You fall under a separate system than other Americans and must tend to those details.

For the US government end, see US Government.

If you are not subject to US law, skip this next section. If you are not a US national and a resident in the US, you are still subject to these restrictions.

For US Citizens or Residents - US Law

Tthese regulations have changed and will continue to change, see Changes in US Licensing Rules - 5/12/99 and especially the new State Department site up as of 10/99. Also, the number of people being fined for going down illegally is up, people are being sent fine letters without being "caught in the act," raising suspicions that Canada and Mexico turn over passenger manifests. This appears unlikely given the numbers, however. Of between 25,000 and 100,000 illegal visits in 2002, only some 600 received letters for fines.

Currently, in order to go down legally if you are a US citizen you need a Treasury license, which you obtain from OFAC, Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. If you are Cuban-American or married to one, you can go down once every 3 years under a "general license" for humanitarian reasons (grave illness in the family, etc) and you only need to notify them via a form, but you do not need to get a license from them before leaving. If you are a "U.S. and foreign government official traveling on official business, including a representative of international organizations of which the U.S. is a member; or a journalist regularly employed by a news reporting organization," you also qualify for this "general license." Otherwise you need to get a license from OFAC to avoid being at risk for large fines ($3,000 to $10,000 typically!). Check out http://travel.state.gov/cuba.html and http://www.treas.gov/ofac/cubapage.html

A category which used to provide an out was to be fully hosted by a Cuban entity. The level of proof now required is high - you must have full documentation for every expense.

If you want to read more then you can go to Afro cuban website by clicking the title above.....