Visa requirements for Cuban citizens

Cuban citizens need a Schengen visa, which covers all member states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, Cuba and 14 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

7 countries ask holders of the Cuban passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter Cuba without one: Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Montenegro, North Macedonia and 2 others.

The reverse holds for 42 countries: holders of the Cuban passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Cuba (Bangladesh, Botswana, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde and 37 others).

93 countries ask holders of the Cuban passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 50 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Cuba.

43 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Cuba, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for Cuba, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in the United States (20) and Mexico (2).

The United States refused 71% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Cuba in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 185 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 11 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Schengen consulates in Cuba refused 22% of short-stay visa applications in 2025 (all Schengen consulates worldwide: 15%). Among the 74 countries where they received at least 10,000 applications, that is the 31st highest rate. The figure counts every nationality applying there, not only citizens.

Visa-free travel with the Cuban passport

By continent, the Cuban passport is visa-free in 9 countries in Asia, 9 countries in the Americas, 4 countries in Oceania, 3 countries in Africa and 2 countries in Europe. The longest visa-free stays for Cuban citizens are allowed in Fiji (120 days), Vanuatu (120 days), Botswana (90 days), Guyana (90 days), Kiribati (90 days) and Malaysia (90 days).

Visa on arrival

Cuban citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt and 20 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Cuban citizens enter Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Benin and 42 others. Ivory Coast, Kenya and Saint Kitts and Nevis ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Cuba’s neighbours

For the neighbouring countries, the rules are: the United States (visa required).

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the US passport ranks 41st (154 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 21 can enter visa-free, 155 need an e-Visa, 20 need a visa from an embassy or consulate and 2 are not admitted for Cuba.