For several months now, the Cuban Government has been offering a new electronic visa, which can be applied for online. This e-visa will eventually replace the paper tourist card. As of 1 July 2025, the paper tourist card will no longer be accepted and all travellers will have to apply for an e-visa Cuba.

Introduction of the e-visa

Cuba is one of the few countries that still uses a physical visa. The physical visa for Cuba, also called "tourist card" or, in Spanish, Tarjeta de Turista is a paper card that travellers need to fill in by hand. The tourist card can be obtained through a visa agency, a travel agency, or directly from the Cuban embassy.

To make border control procedures more simple and efficient, and to reduce paperwork, Cuban authorities have recently introduced the electronic visa. A new website was launched in August 2024 for this purpose. Since then, tourists can apply online for their visa in a few simple steps.

Transition phase with two visa types

The electronic visa for Cuba is available since summer 2024. Although the ultimate goal was to replace the physical visa, the e-visa was initially introduced as an alternative to the tourist card. Many travellers had already applied for a tourist card for a trip at a later date. In fact, when applying for the tourist card, you don't need to know your arrival date in Cuba yet. Travellers could actually apply for their tourist card months before their planned trip.

The Cuban immigration authorities have accommodated these travellers by temporarily accepting both the e-visa and the tourist card. This transition period will soon come to an end. Cuban authorities have announced that, as of 1 July 2025, the tourist card will no longer be accepted. Then, all travellers will need to apply for a Cuban e-visa.

Canadian travellers are excepted

Not all travellers need to comply with the e-visa requirement for Cuba. In fact, Canadian citizens benefit from a special agreement. If they arrive to Cuba on a direct flight from Canada, they do not need to apply for an e-visa, as their e-visa will be included in their flight ticket. Canadian travellers who make a stopover in another country and then fly to Cuba do need to apply for their own e-visa, though.

Canadian travellers do still need to register their trip to Cuba on D’Viajeros, a form provided by the Cuban immigration authorities. This form is mandatory for all international travellers, including British and Irish nationals. The form can be completed during the 7 days prior to arrival in Cuba. In addition to their passport details, in the D'Viajeros form, travellers need to provide information about their trip to Cuba, like their airline, flight number and address of accommodation in Cuba. In addition, travellers must inform about their health status and indicate if they wish to declare any items at customs.