Common belief holds that U.S. citizens and foreign residents are forbidden by law to travel to Cuba. This is not true. The applicable legislation is the Trading with the Enemy Act under which the restriction is not on travel but on the spending of money in Cuba. Of course one can practically equate the ban on spending money in Cuba to a travel ban because in normal circumstances a visitor must spend on accommodations, food and other necessities.

Exceptions to the ban on spending money in Cuba are allowed by licenses issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department.

It is the sole prerogative of each country or region to determine who is allowed to enter. All countries or regions have special requirements for persons intending to reside for extended periods (usually more than 90 days) or who plan to work, study, or engage in non-tourist activities. To obtain information on specific entry requirements, contact the nearest diplomatic or consular office of the destination(s) to be visited. Violations of entry and exit requirements may result in serious penalties.

Basic Requirements

Everyone wishing to enter Cuba is required to apply for a Cuba visa before being allowed entry.  Should you wish to enter the country as a tourist, you will be required to apply for a tourist visa-card. A Cuba tourist visa-card is valid only for leisure or recreational purposes. It is not valid for other travel purposes.

Dual citizens (of Canada and some other country) may have difficulty boarding a plane to Canada with their non-Canadian passport and their Canadian citizenship card. The Canadian citizenship card is not a travel document.

Cuba does not recognize dual citizenship. Cuban-Canadians must enter Cuba on their Cuban passport. They must also show a valid Canadian passport in order to return to Canada.

Under Cuban law, the Government of Canada cannot provide consular services to Canadian nationals or to permanent residents of Canada with Cuban citizenship.

The official currency is the Cuban Peso (CUP), divided into 100 centavos (cents). Notes can be of 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pesos. Coins can be of 1, 5 and 20 centavos, and there are others of 1 and 3 pesos.

The Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) was introduced by the Cuban financial authorities to take out all foreing currencies from circulation, and offer an alternative that is in almost all senses equal to US dollars. It replaces the dollar as currency where previously dollars were quoted in places such as hotels, restaurants and so called 'dollar shops', and is the new 'tourist' currency. Some places only accept Cuban pesos and others only Pesos Convertible (usually tourist related establishments).

With regard to the use of credit or debit cards in Cuba the following applies. No card issued by a bank that has any connection with the United States will be accepted in Cuba.

Therefore Capital One, American Express, Egg and MBNA cards will not work in Cuba.

UK debit cards with the VISA logo are usually accepted by your tour rep to pay for trips but will NOT be accepted to purchase goods. They can, however, be used in ATM's (if you can find one and it is working) or to draw money from a Cadeca.

Much is made of the so called 11% plus charge for using your credit card in Cuba, but this is a myth.