Sunday 12 July 2015

DOES CUBA IMMIGRATION STAMP YOUR PASSPORT?

CUBA - ENTRY STAMPS & PASSPORTS

Yes, Cuba immigration is now stamping passports.

On my recent visit to Cuba (June 2015) my passport was stamped for the first time ever!

I was travelling to Cuba via Lima with Avianca and when I got off the escalator and walked into immigration at Jose Martí International Airport in Havana, I was stopped and asked a few questions about my trip to Cuba; just before I even got to the queues for immigration.  Questions asked:

·         How long will you be staying in Cuba?
·         Is this your first time in Cuba?
·         What is your profession?
·         Where will you be staying in Cuba?


After they finished asking me questions about my trip to Cuba, I scanned the room to see where the shortest queue to immigration was and found that there were no people queuing for immigration at the far end of the room.  I stood on the red line and waited to be called by immigration.  Once called, I stepped up to the Immigration Officer’s booth, handed her my passport (I have a British EU passport) and she began to ask me the same questions as her colleagues had done already.  I heard the Immigration Officer stamping what I thought was the Cuban tourist visa but when I checked my passport later that day, I was surprised to see that the Cuban Immigration Officer had stamped my passport with a Cuba entry stamp. 

Even though, I had visited Cuba on numerous of occasions since 2002, my passport had never been stamped before.  This was the first time my passport had been stamped with a Cuban entry stamp.
In the past Cuba immigration would not stamp passports. They would simply stamp the Cuban tourist visa upon entry and upon exit of Cuba and not the passport. 

WHAT DO I DO IF I DON’T WANT A CUBAN STAMP IN MY PASSPORT?

As I was leaving Cuba to return to the UK, I asked immigration if it was possible for people visiting Cuba to not get their passport stamped when entering Cuba and what they should do to avoid it.  I was told that anyone who doesn’t want a stamp in their passport should tell the Cuban Immigration Officer, when handing over their passport, that they DO NOT WANT a stamp in their passport and the Immigration Officer will respect their wishes.  On my next visit to Cuba I will try this and see if it works.

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE

If you are travelling to Cuba and intend on asking the immigration authorities not to stamp your passport, let us know how you get on.


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Cuba Immigration
Cuba Entry Stamp




Medical Cover Cuba
Immigration Havana Airport

Medical Cover Cuba
Havana Airport

Medical Cover Cuba
Immigration Havana Airport

Medical Cover Cuba
Jose Marti International Airport