The tourist card for Cuba will remain valid until the end of 2025. Some time ago, Cuban authorities announced that travellers to the island would need to apply for an e-visa for Cuba. However, the immigration authorities have recently announced that the paper tourist card will remain valid for another six months.
Transition to the electronic visa
Cuba introduced the electronic visa in the summer of 2024. Cuba was, at the time, one of the few countries that didn't offered an evisa yet. The only option was the physical paper visa, also referred to as "tourist card", or Tarjeta de Turista in Spanish. With the introduction of the electronic visa, Cuba tried to modernise the legal procudures at the border. Besides, this would make it easier for travellers to apply for their Cuba visa from home.
The e-visa can indeed be applied for online in just a few minutes. You just need to fill in a digital application form and pay the fee. After that, your application will be processed within 3 days on average. You will then receive a link by e-mail which will allow you to activate your e-visa via the website of the Cuban immigration authorities.
Deadline postponed again
Initially, the tourist card should have been replaced by the e-visa by 31 December 2024. Although the Cuban authorities haven't issued any new tourist cards for some time already, many travellers are still in possession of unused tourist cards. In order to accomodate these individuals, in 2025 there will be a final six-month transition period during which it will be possible to use both the e-visa and the tourist card to travel to Cuba. On 1 July 2025, this final transition period to the e-visa will start, after which the tourist card will be eliminated for good.
The Cuban ministry of tourism has now announced that it will still be possible to use the tourist card for another six more months, until 31 December 2025. This is good news for travellers who had applied for their Cuba visa well before their expected departure date. They have now extra time to use their tourist card. However, no new physical visas will be issued anymore. Travellers who don't have a visa for Cuba yet can easily apply for one online.
Apply online for your e-visa Cuba
Entry form D'Viajeros
Whether you are travelling with an e-visa or a with a physical tourist card, you should always register your trip at D'Viajeros, the Cuban immigration website. In the D'Viajeros form, you need to indicate a series of data about your trip and the accommodation where you will be staying in Cuba. Besides, you will have to indicate if you want to declare items at customs and if you show symptoms of certain diseases. The D'Viajeros form is also used to activate your e-visa. After sending the D'Viajeros form, you will receive a confirmation with a QR code that you will need to print or save digitally, so that you can produce it upon arrival in Cuba.