stevieh has indicated that this thread is about Cuba
As of now, it's extraordinarily easy even for American citizens to enter Cuba. You should be able to purchase a tourist visa in the airport (or with your airline ticket) with no problems. The only issue is that you may be subject to a hefty exit tax upon arrival if you are coming on a charter flight from Miami.
A friend from home went earlier this year and reported she had not a single problem with her UK passport, and met many Americans there too.
Hope this was useful.
[ 30-Sep-2016, at 10:42 by hummingbird500 ]
1.) Tourist travel for Americans is still illegal and since you're departing from the US you're of course under the very same restrictions. You need an OFAC General Licence, there are 12 different categories of non-touristic travel that you can choose to make the trip legal. At the airport you'll need to sign a document stating which category you're flying under, the airline holds this for 5 years.
2.) That all sounds complicated, but here's the upside: It's ridiculous US bureaucracy at its absolute finest so in actually it's a fairly easy process because the OFAC licence has NO application and NO paperwork. It's done on the honour system. Yes, you read that correctly. Totally stupid, but that's how it works to keep the US Department of State happy. Tick a box and sign a piece of paper for the airline and you're good to go.
3.) All you need to enter Cuba is your Passport and Cuban Tourist Card. The charter companies have the Tourist Card figured out - they simply charge you an arm and a leg for it at the airport - but the newly announced regularly scheduled airlines are still scrambling to streamline the process. Some of them offer it for sale (at wildly differing prices) and others make you purchase it through a third party like the Cuba Travel Network.
4.) There is no exit tax for Cuba, that was dropped over a year ago. It's now included in the price of your ticket.
Bottom line: Your plan is totally doable, but it's not as straightforward as simply rocking up to the counter and buying a ticket.
Have fun.
Cheers,
Terry
[quote=CheersT]
4.) There is no exit tax for Cuba, that was dropped over a year ago. It's now included in the price of your ticket.
I am not sure. I had two American friends fly there from Miami in July of this year and they had to pay the tax upon arrival. I think it may still be in effect under certain circumstances.
There has never been an arrival tax. There are no special circumstances. If your friends paid one then they were scammed.
There was a 25 CUC exit tax in place for many years. You paid it after check-in and your boarding pass was then stamped. This allowed you to go through exit immigration. As I stated above this tax was dropped over a year ago and it is now included in the price of your ticket.
Cheers,
Terry
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