Can you travel to the USA if you've been to Cuba before? (British citizen)

[balin]

Finding all the info online a bit confusing. Has anyone been or know if you can travel to the States having been to Cuba previously?

Also, what are the rules around passport expiry. I will have about 3 months left on my passport at the time of travel. Would I be ok to travel with this? Or if I look to renew my passport (says it takes approx 10 weeks!) can you travel in the meantime while waiting for a new passport? My current passport will have <6 months left. Thanks!

Do you have a US visa? If you've been to Cuba I think you need to travel on a proper US visa rather than an ESTA (the visa waiver programme) - I think it's quite a bit more expensive!

I'm not sure on the expiry, I thought the general rule of thumb was 6 months. You can always book a same day passport appointment to get it back quick if you need to!

You have to get a visa from the US embassy in London to travel if you’ve been to Cuba in the last 11 years. There is a backlog for appointments though. I think it’s £140

travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/visas-required-for-uk-travellers-to-us-who-have-visited-cuba

I went to Cuba in 2012 and New York in 2014, I got the Esta thing online and thought nothing of it. I wouldn’t have lied on the application.

The rules have recently changed I believe and what aroughride says is right.

But it's changed since 2014. Not sure if the date but OP needs to do their research.

Quite a long time ago now but we went to Cuba in 2001 then to the US in around 2009, I think. Didn't have to get Visas, we did have ESTAs.
This might well have changed now.
I think you will definitely need to renew your passport before you travel if you only have three months on it before its expiry when you travel.

If you've been to Cuba I think you need to travel on a proper US visa rather than an ESTA

I didn't. Been to Cuba 3x and got an ESTA for a trip to US this last December. They ask you for your FB account but I don't remember any questions about Cuba. (There were for Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.).

I don't have a British passport though so....

esta.cbp.dhs.gov/faq?lang=en&focusedTopic=About%20ESTA%20and%20The%20Visa%20Waiver%20Program&answerToDisplay=How%20does%20Cuba’s%20designation%20as%20a%20State%20Sponsor%20of%20Terrorism%20impact%20my%20travel%20to%20the%20United%20States%20using%20my%20approved%20ESTA%3F%20

From the ESTA website.

There is some confusion as to whether it is since 2011 or 2021 that you need a visa to visit with most coming down the side of 2021.

and no you just need the passport to cover the visit. DS went over Christmas and his passport ran out last week

Yea no problem. I went to Cuba in 2017 and USA in 2018. Just needed an ESTA like normal.

I went to Cuba in 2015 and USA in 2019 with no issues and the esta. Don't know if it's changed since then

The rules have changed since then - Cuba was placed on that state sponsors of terrorism list on January 11, 2021 and this now means you cannot use and ESTA to travel to the USA if you’ve been to Cuba and have to go to the embassy in London to get a full visa.

The confusion is whether this applies for visits to Cuba from 2011 or 2021 - there’s no clear answer yet although this article suggest they were looking for it to only apply if you visited after it was declared a state sponsor of terrorism in 2021.

www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/us-cuba-esta-traveller-trump-b2221169.html

Cub don’t stamp anything in your passport (or didn’t when I went). How would immigration in the US know you had been?

Cheaper and easier to get a new passport and just go with an ESTA, they will know nothing.
I traveled to the states a few years ago, I’ve got a criminal conviction and decided not to say anything, no one asked or knew at the other end.

I've been to Cuba (2016) then the USA a couple of times since then on an ordinary ESTA, it's instant now, so just apply online and see if you get one.

OP when did you go to Cuba? You're right you can't travel to the US on an ESTA for 10 years after visiting Cuba now but there is confusion as to whether this applies to pre Jan 2021 or not.

How would they know if you’ve been to Cuba?

I was granted an ESTA just last week and there was no mention of Cuba in the questions . There were some other countries you had to declare visiting but Cuba was not on the list.

I've got no advice on going to Cuba/America, but I renewed my passport recently and it only took two weeks from send off to receiving it back. (It also said 10 weeks on the website when I sent it off)

Just get a new passport (just had a new one back, took 4 days)
then do an ESTA.

@Bunchymcbunchface
that’s what I did 😂😂
then applied for my ESTA and went with no problems

I went to Cuba in 2007 on holiday, and have been to the US 2 or 3 times since then as normal, no special visa etc.

I’ve never been to Cuba but screw paying a grand for a visa compared to twenty quid for an ESTA.

I had to get a new passport even with 2 years left on mine as I needed the biometric picture for the ESTA.
Really impressed with the speed they turned my new passport round. Took longer to get there because of the postal strikes meaning it didn’t arrive until the week between xmas and new year, then came back within 3 days.

I gut my passport back in less than a week as did DH. We applied 2 weeks ago.

Never heard of this, we went to Cuba in 2014 and my husband went to the USA last summer on an ESTA.