Visa to Cuba for Russians: do you need it, necessary documents for entry

Cuba is a great place for an exotic vacation on the Caribbean coast. According to an agreement between the Russian Federation and Cuba of 1993, for trips up to 30 days for the purpose of tourism to Cuba, Russians do not need a visa. If you are traveling for the purpose of employment, long-term residence or business, you need to apply for an appropriate visa.

Citizens of which countries do not need a visa?

• Up to 30 days - for ordinary owners Russian passports traveling for tourism purposes.
• Up to 90 days - for persons holding ordinary passports of Malaysia and Namibia.
• Up to 30 days - for citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Belarus,, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia.
• Up to 90 days - citizens of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro.
• Up to 60 days - citizens of Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
• Up to 28 days - for citizens of Barbados and Dominica.

What documents are needed?

To enter Cuba without a visa you will need:

• Foreign passport / diplomatic / official / sailor's passport or temporary certificate from the consulate.
• Round-trip air tickets to ensure you make it back on time.
• in duplicate. It must be completed in English. One copy is given to the passport control officer, and the second remains with you until the end of the trip.
• A document confirming the availability of funds. Statement from a credit card, savings card or bank account. Calculate the amount of approximately $ 50 for each day. If you are flying to Cuba on a tour package from a travel company, then you can skip this step, but you must have a travel voucher with you.

To Cuba is optional, but by doing so, you can save a large amount of money in case of illness. You should not save one or two thousand rubles.

You do not need to pay any fees upon entry, but an airport tax is charged for each departure - 25 cookies (1500 rubles). The fact of payment will be considered the issued holographic sticker, which must be glued to the migration card.

Migration card

The migration card must be filled out in block letters. The same data is entered in 2 copies of the form for each person, including children.

Sample of filling out a migration card

It indicates your last name and first name, gender, country and date of birth, citizenship and passport number, profession, purpose of travel, city of departure and arrival in Cuba, address of residence or hotel name, address of residence in the Russian Federation.

During transit, point 10 (from where you arrived) is entered with the previous place of departure, and not the starting point.

A gift of 2100+1000 rubles for housing!

When registering through the link in AirBnB. you will receive 2100 rubles to your account. For this money you can rent good apartments for 1 day abroad or in Russia. The bonus only works for new accounts.

When registering after your stay, you will receive a cashback of 1000 rubles.

The migration card can be filled out on the plane. When you enter, you will be stamped in it, and they will take it away at the exit - so you can’t lose it. The most important thing to know is the address of your residence in Cuba.

Entry with children

For children under 14 years of age, you must have a birth certificate and a passport with you, or they must be entered in the parents' passport. Children over 14 need to have their own passport.

If the child travels with a third party, you must have with you permission to leave from both parents with a notary stamp. If only with one of the parents, consent must be obtained from the second of them.

Extension of the visa-free regime

After the 30 days of the visa-free regime have expired, it is possible to extend it for another 30 days through the local immigration office. You will need to buy stamps in the bank for the amount of 65 cookies (visa 40 + proroga 25 - for 3700 rubles) and be sure to have a certificate from the hotel or the cash desk of a legal private house about the place of residence, honey. monthly insurance.

The extension is confirmed by the presence of a visa with a proroga. Prorroga is a white label that sticks to a pink piece of paper (this is the visa). The yellow card issued upon arrival is taken away.

Then the visa can be extended for another third and fourth month, for this you will need to buy a new proroga for 25 cookies. The third and fourth months will require valid reasons for an extension.

Stamps can be purchased in advance. Do not leave the extension for the last day, as the migration service does not always work. You cannot extend your legal stay at the airport.

If necessary, you can cross the border on the nearest island or in Mexico (Cancun), and return the next day.

If you plan to travel more than 30 days to Cuba without a visa (to extend your stay), your return ticket must be within the first 30 days of your stay. You can buy a return ticket with an open date.

Visa application

To travel to Cuba to visit relatives or friends, for business and work visits, study - a visa is required. This can be done at the Cuban embassy in Russia.

A visa to Cuba consists of two parts: the first will be taken from you at the border, and the second must be left until the end of the trip.

What does a Cuban visa look like?

During transit, there will be an additional inspection, so some of the things may be confiscated, in particular, purchases from Duty Free from the previous airport.

List of documents

• Completed form.
• Passport valid for the entire period of stay and 1 blank page and a copy of all pages.
• A copy and original of the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation.
• Two photos 3*4.
• Printout of round-trip tickets.
• An invitation from a company or a private person, or a hotel reservation.
• Insurance.
• Receipt for payment of the fee.

Cost and terms

Registration of documents takes no more than 5 days. When submitting documents to the consular department, the fee will be $30. Usually a visa is issued for a period of one month, but is valid for six months.

When traveling to Cuba, do not take cash in dollars with you, due to unfavorable exchange rates, you will lose 10-20%. It is more profitable to take euros or Canadian dollars.

With a Cuban entry mark in a passport, there may be problems with obtaining citizenship or. Usually, such a mark is put only at your request, and in the passport it will simply be seen that you went abroad and returned, without indicating the country.