Cuban passport

  • Cuban passport
  • Pasaporte cubano
The front cover of a contemporary Cuban passport.
TypePassport
Issued by Cuba
First issued1 January 2011[1] (current version)
PurposeIdentification
EligibilityCuban citizenship
Expiration10 years

A Cuban passport (Spanish: Pasaporte cubano) is an identity document issued to citizens of Cuba to facilitate international travel. They are valid for 10 years from the date of issuance, before they used to be valid for 6 years and had to be validated every 2 years.[2]

The cost of a Cuban passport is 2500 Cuban pesos, equivalent to approximately USD $20.[3]

The cost of issue of this passport is about US$200 (CUC 200) and US$200 for every two years for Cubans living in the United States.[4]

In addition a Cuban national must pay 200 Euros every two years if the person lives outside of Cuba in order to gain permission to enter Cuba. Without this permission and a Cuban passport a Cuban cannot enter the island and will be denied entry.

Until 14 January 2013, the Cuban government required that all Cuban citizens and foreigners such as foreign students that live in Cuba desiring to leave the country would have to obtain an exit permit (Spanish: Permiso de Salida). The abolition of the controversial requirement led to long lines at passport offices filled with citizens desiring to legally travel abroad; however, the lines were partly attributed to the cost of obtaining a passport doubling the next day to the equivalent of US$100 (CUC 100), the equivalent of 5 months of average state salary. Now the passport is the only document required to leave the country, apart from a visa from the destination country. Previously the cost of a passport, exit permit, and associated paperwork added up to around US$300 (CUC 300), the equivalent of 15 months of average state salary.[5]

Formerly required exit permit stamped on a Cuban passport
Front endpaper and first page of a Cuban passport
  1. ^ "Council of the European Union - PRADO - CUB-AO-01001". consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Services and Consular Procedures, Embassy of Cuba in Suriname". embacu.cubaminrex.cu. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Solicitud o renovación del pasaporte cubano | Trámites en Cuba". 15 May 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Cuban Interest Section in USA". cubadiplomatica.cu. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  5. ^ Rainsford, Sarah (14 January 2013). "Cubans set for foreign travel as exit permits abolished". BBC News. Retrieved 31 May 2013.