Getting a Cuba tourist card

anastassia · February 2013

Hi guys,

My husband and I are from Estonia, living permanently in UK. We are going to Colombia and then Cuba. We know that with Estonian passports we don't need a visa to Colombia, however we do need a tourist card going to Cuba. We will be flying to Havana from Bogota. Do you know if we can get a TC in Botoga airport or already in Havana airport? A bit confused what we can do. One of the tour operators are charging around £80 to process TC, which is a rip-off.

Heeeelp!
Thank you

CheersT · February 2013

Dear anastassia,

As mentioned repeatedly throughout this thread unlike departing from the UK or Europe the Cuban Tourist Card is a simple issue when departing from North/Central/South America and the Caribbean.

You will always either be given the Tourist Card as part of your ticket or be afforded the opportunity to purchase the Tourist Card right at the airport when you're departing from Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Grand Cayman, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, etc.

Everyone on your flight will be purchasing the TC right at check-in. No one can board the aircraft with it.

Have fun.

Cheers,
Terry

anastassia · March 2013

Thank you very much, Terry.

Managed to get the travel card sorted today at the Cuban Embassy in London. £15 for everything and no documents were needed apart from the passport and copy of the passport. Hopefully this would help the others who reside in London and try getting the TC sorted. Tourist companies charge ridiculous money for it.

CheersT · March 2013

If you had mentioned you were in London I would have said the Cuban Embassy located there is another option. As you discovered it's super easy to get the Tourist Card directly from them too.

Have fun. Colombia is my favourite country in South America, I'm sure you'll have a gas there.

Cheers,
Terry

Guest · March 2013

Terry haven't read your comment and your information forum, I will like to asked if a Nigeria passport holder that possess the airport transit for france and connecting to havana and heading to jamaica, will he/she need a tourist card ( Cuba) and if so what cost and who are the agency which can issue this TC. Bear in my mind he/she has the visa for the final destination.

CheersT · March 2013

Everyone - no matter what your nationality - requires a Cuban Tourist Card to enter and stay in Cuba. You won't be allowed to board the aircraft from your departure airport without it.

If you are simply transiting through Cuba on your way to Jamaica as your final destination then that's a different situation and a Cuban Tourist Card is not required.

Cheers,
Terry

Guest · March 2013

Hi, i'm indonesian and i'm in Montreal right now for multiple entry visa and i want go to cuba or domnican republic for a week...i wonder if i can get visa on arrival in cuba or domincan republic airport ?

CheersT · March 2013

Dear Tri,

As mentioned repeatedly throughout this thread unlike departing from the UK or Europe the Cuban Tourist Card is a simple issue when departing from North/Central/South America and the Caribbean.

You will receive the Tourist Card with your airline ticket when departing from Canada.

Have fun.

Cheers,
Terry

m0ney · April 2013

Dear,
I am having Indian passport want to visit Cuba on tourist . Can you advice me do i need visa for Cuba.

I want to plan for 5 days trip . Please guide what i have to do to get visa..

CheersTerry · April 2013

There is no Visa required in the traditional sense, all you need is a simple Tourist Card.

You can get one from the Embassy in India
http://www.cubadiplomatica.cu/india/EN/ConsularServices.aspx#TouristCard
or sometimes from your airline that's flying to Cuba or sometimes it's
available for purchase at the airport. No way to answer for sure when
you give no clue as to how how you're flying to Cuba.

Good luck.

Cheers,

Terry

phobson · July 2013

Hi Terry and others

I have read all the postings about
Australians obtaining a tourist card for Cuba but none seem to precisely cover
my situation. My wife and I are going on a Caribbean cruise with Noble
Caledonia (“Island Hopping in The Caribbean’) from 19 March to 2 April 2014.
The cruise begins in Georgetown, Cayman Islands and the first 3 ports are
Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santiago de Cuba in Cuba.

We are flying to Cayman Islands
from Miami. Noble Caledonia states that we need tourist cards for Cuba and
Dominican Republic and that they will send information on how to obtain
approximately 12 weeks before departure and to not try to obtain in the
meantime. However as we will probably be the only Australians on the cruise and
all the rest will be Brits, they will probably have a special arrangement for
them but not for us.

What do you recommend I do, Terry or anyone else who can
advise?

One possible option would be to obtain them
at the airport at Georgetown, Grand Cayman but will that be possible if we are
not taking a flight to Cuba? Also is the relevant desk likely to be open
between 7.35 pm on March 18 (when we fly in) and about 3 pm on March 19 (when
the boat disembarks).

If this idea won’t work what else can anyone suggest?

I have read somewhere that tourist cards
are valid for 180 days from obtaining and 30 days from first use. Do you know
if this is definitely the case?

With regard to Dominican Republic do you
know whether we can obtain tourist cards on arrival at the port of Puerto
Plata?

Any advice would be appreciated

Peter

CheersTerry · July 2013

Dear Peter,

First of all, Noble Caledonia should be ashamed of themselves. What's with the dumb statement,"... they will send information on how to obtain approximately 12 weeks before departure and to not try to obtain in the meantime...?!?!" What a ridiculous excuse for Customer Service. Are they
going to supply the Tourist Card, or not? Why can't they simply be
forthcoming?!

Personally I'd force them to $hit or get off the pot right now. You
can't sign up for their cruise and not know anything about the Tourist
Card until 3 months before departure. There shouldn't be a mystery here,
they're either going to be a factor in obtaining one for their clients,
or not, they have to be honest right now.

Please email them and let us (me) know their reply then you'll know what other avenues have to be pursued, if necessary.

Good luck, and please report back.

Cheers,

Terry

CheersTerry · July 2013

By the way, the formatting on this forum is really, really bad lately...

Cheers,
Terry

phobson · August 2013

Hi Terry

I approached Noble Caledonia again as you
suggested and here is their reply:

*Unfortunately we
cannot obtain information on visas until closer to departure. We do mention
this to all passengers at confirmation stage in a factsheet, and furthermore we
do make all passengers aware that holders of other nationality passports should
check with their nearest embassies for individual requirements.

Approximately 12 weeks prior to departure we will send out ‘Pre Departure
Information’, leaving three months to apply and send off for relevant
documentation.”

So it seems it is up to me to get the necessary
tourist card or visas. As we live in the country it is not easy to access the
Cuban Embassy but we could be going to Canberra in October to visit our son and
maybe we could sort something out then. Do you know if we can do on the spot if we take our passports?

Perhaps we may have to end up getting a visa if they don’t issue Tourist cards
at the Embassy.

Failing this is there anything we can do through Cuban Consulate
in Sydney? Am I correct in assuming the visa or tourist card are valid for 180
days from obtaining and if we get in October they will then still be valid when
we arrive in March?

The other option is to get Tourist Cards in
Caymans before we embark (as mentioned in previous posting) but not knowing
what we can achieve there this may be a little risky. We don’t want to go on
the cruise and find we can’t land at the first 3 ports.

What do you
suggest?

Also what should we do about Dominican Republic where we call at Puerto Plata
on day 8?

It seems all the other ports: Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Turks and
Caicos, Puerto Rico, British Virgin Isles, St Barthelemey, Nevis, Montserrat,
Les Saintes (Guadeloupe), Antigua will not be a problem.

Thank you for your interest Terry.

Peter

Anya K · August 2013

Hi guys,

I've noted the formatting problems, note that this tends to be an issue when you copy/paste text from programmes like Word.

CheersTerry · August 2013

Hey Peter, thanks for the feedback.

You're right of course, in a roundabout way they're simply saying that
you're on your own. That sucks because they should be supplying Tourist
Cards, period.

Unfortunately the only way to guarantee having a Tourist Card is to get one from the Cuban Embassy in Canberra.

http://www.cubadiplomatica.cu/australia/EN/Mission/Embassy.aspx

The problem with that that route is the Tourist Card is an expensive
rip-off in Australia. The Embassy there are basically robbers, charging
you a pile of money and a bunch of hassle for a simple $20 piece of
paper that is SO easy to get from any departure point in the Western
Hemisphere.

Before you go to the Embassy though try to get in touch with Cayman
Airways, https://www.caymanairways.com/ If you can get it in writing
that you can purchase a Tourist Card from their desk at the airport then
that gives you another option.

Good luck.

Cheers,

Terry

Regarding the Dominican Republic, all you have to do is purchase a $10 Tourist Card upon arrival:

www.godominicanrepublic.com

CheersTerry · August 2013

By the way, there is no "visa" for Cuba, all they do is sell you a simple Tourist Card. There's no photos or anything required...

Cheers,
Terry

phobson · August 2013

Thanks Terry. I will do as you say. It seems I should be able to get on the spot in Canberra but I guess I should take passports in case they want to see. I will let you know what I find out from Cayman Airways. At least Dominican Republic is easy and we can leave till we arrive.
Cheers
Peter

CheersTerry · August 2013

You'll absolutely need the passports. Check out the link I gave you, they list everything necessary for getting the Tourist Card issued.

Cheers,
Terry

phobson · November 2013

Hi Terry
Just to let you know that we got our Tourist cards from the Cuban Embassy in Canberra OK. $60 each. Haven't heard anything from Noble Caledonia on what they plan yet.

Cheers
peter

CheersTerry · November 2013

Noble Caledonia's customer service is horrible. I hope they run the cruise better.

Lastly, not to get you worried... but sometimes the Tourist Cards have a date stamped on them and you have to use the TC within 90 days. I trust the ones that you paid (way too much) for at the Embassy will still be valid next March...

Good luck.

Cheers,
Terry

Mikey47 · November 2013

We're with NC from Nassau via Cuba to Belize in January so have just got the Pre-departure docs. They say we must arrange the card and recommend the Cuban Consulate by post for £15 pp plus £19 per household for postage. Also suggest CIBT at a cost of £64pp (£34 consular fee plus £30 service fee). Hope this helps Peter.

Cheers Terry, thanks for all the answers here.

Mike

Mikey47 · November 2013

I have just applied through www.cubavisas.com for a cost of £40 total for 2 cards. I'll let you know how it goes.
.
Estimated Delivery Time:

Destination	Working Days
UK (Express Delivery)	1 (after dispatch)
UK (Standard Delivery)	3-5
Europe	8-15
Rest of the World	15-30

Mikey47 · November 2013

Just had an email to say the cards are on their way. Please allow 5 days to receive them.

Will let you know.

Mike

Mikey47 · November 2013

Just to report that the tourist cards came today. Excellent service and good value. Stamped by them but no date so the 90 days wouldn't be a problem.

CheersTerry · November 2013

Have a great trip, Mike.

Cheers,
Terry

Jann · December 2013

Hi all

After reading all the posts, just wanting to confirm that a travel card to Cuba can be purchased day of flight from Madrid airport? Thanks,
Jann

CheersTerry · December 2013

Not a clue, especially when you give no info like which airline and whether you're on a package tour or travelling independently...

Cheers,
Terry

Jann · January 2014

Thanks, I am flying independently with Air Europa from Madrid Airport. Is it possible to purchase a Cuban travel card from the airport? Is it preferable to go to the airport earlier to do this?
Jann

CheersTerry · January 2014

You should phone Air Europa right now and confirm one way or the other. In the past they didn't supply the card when departing from the UK, you had to buy it yourself. You do NOT want to show up at the airport with no Tourist Card...

Good luck.

Cheers,
Terry

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