Visitors must have a passport or a travel document issued in his/her name.
Immigration will likely come on board your boat.
Most nationals are issued with a Cuba Tourist Card on arrival when arriving by boat, which will be issued by immigration as part of the clearing-in process (and normally added to your marina bill). Under the streamlined clearing in procedures simply give your passport/s to the Guarda Officer who boards the boat and they will take care of the rest.
The Tourist Card is valid for 90 days (as of 1 November, 2022), and can be renewed for a further 90 days if you wish to extend your stay (at the local immigration office).
Countries with which Cuba has agreements of visa extensions and whose citizens do not need to request a visa or a tourist card to enter the island are: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belorussia, Benin, Bosnia Herzegovina, China, Dominica, Grenada, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Mongolia, Namibia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia and Singapore.
Cuba has launched a system for issuing electronic entry visas. This replaces the Tourist Card or “Tarjeta del Turista” system previously in place. See this VisasNews article for more information. Tourists wishing to visit Cuba now apply for a visa online via the government portal evisacuba.cu.
If staying in Cuba for more than 90 days, proof of medical insurance valid in Cuba is required before you will be allowed to renew your Visa. Cuban medical insurance can be purchased for $3CUC per day.
Visa extensions can be arranged at the closest unit of immigration -Dirección de Identificación, Inmigración y Extranjería (DIIE, by its Spanish acronym), with a stamp that must be purchased at an international bank before going to the immigration office. This process is faster if some six copies of the crew list are prepared with all crew passport details. Cruising forums comment that Key Largo is a good place to get your visa extended via the marina. Cienfuegos is reported to be difficult.
For longer stays, it is advisable to arrive with a visa obtained in advance. Alternatively, you must depart Cuba for another country and then return, starting the Immigration clock once more.
Some Latin American countries will not admit someone with a passport stamped in Cuba, but if asked, Cuban officials will not stamp passports.
Whilst officials at the airport sometimes stamp passports, the majority tend only to stamp the tourist card, which is inserted into your passport, and not the actual passport itself. The tourist card is removed when you leave the country, so in this case, there is never any evidence in your passport that you have been to Cuba.
American Citizens are free to enter Cuba by any means available to them, provided they observe the conditions of their self-declared license category. Just like any other national when sailing into Cuba, they will be issued with a 90-day tourist card on arrival, but may have to pay a little more.
For the time being it may be advisable for US citizens not to have their passports stamped in Cuba. The Cuban Interests Section and the Swiss embassy in Washington DC deal with visa applications.
To see the restrictions affecting American citizens, see the Restrictions section.
Cuba requires two online formalities be completed before traveling to Cuba - the e-Visa and the "D'Viajeros" declaration.
e-Visa: As of August 2024, tourists wishing to visit Cuba apply for a visa online via the government portal evisacuba.cu, instead of using the tourist card “Tarjeta del Turista”. After selecting the embassy that will process the e-Visa application, the applicant can then pay for the visa via one of the offered methods. The price of the electronic visa varies from country to country. Previously issued tourist cards remain valid and can be used until December 31, 2024. Starting January 2025 only e-Visas will be valid.
D'Viajeros: As of January 2022, air travelers entering Cuba complete a travel declaration “D’Viajeros” on the dviajeros.mitrans.gob.cu portal within 48 hours prior to departure. This replaced the paper form filled out on the plane. There is a button on the top right for English/Spanish. Users are emailed a QR code to show at Customs and Immigration. This registration activates the e-Visa.
Note: Without going through this travel declaration stage, the e-Visa is not valid.
Upon completion of the two online formalities, approved visitors can stay in Cuba for up to 90 days, which can be renewed for a further 90 days.
New crew flying into the country will need to get "enrolled" onto the boat via the authorities at the marina (approx. cost US$10).
When you check into Cuba, inform the authorities at the marina that a crew member will be leaving the boat. They will need to be "dis-enrolled" from the boat (approx. cost US$10).
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Last updated: December 2024
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