Going to USA when you have been to Cuba post 2011

[OneCup]

I was about to book flights to the US when I read on the FCO's website that if you have been to Cuba, you cannot apply for an ESTA anymore and have to apply for a visa in London. It sounds like it was a decision taken by Trump's government due to Cuba being considered a state sponsoring terrorism.
Reading about it, what makes it tricky is that in some sources, it says that this was backdated to 2011 (We went in 2012). In other places (e.g. IATA), that it is from 2021. The ESTA website doesn't specify dates.
Our passports were all renewed since going to Cuba so there is no stamp evidence of our stay but I don't know if I'd feel comfortable lying! This is putting me off booking flights as we live a five hour drive from London.
Has anyone got experience of this? This is all very frustrating as we went to the USA a few times since Cuba too.

Just having exactly the same conversations here as this has just been brought to my attention. We have current ESTAs and travelled to the US last year 😖

Whatever you do, don't lie. If you got found out you could be banned from there!

I guess the issue there is that nowhere on the ESTA application says ‘have you been to Cuba?’!

And it’s not on this list?

Oh bloody hell what a pain. How long does a visa last? Could you apply for one and then only book flights once you know it's ok?

(Now racking brains about when we went to NYC having been to Cuba a few years previously).

Also thinking it's weird because Cuba is a BIG tourist destination for Canadians and they don't need any sort of ESTA/Visa for the US.

The U.K. Gov website says that if you've been to cuba you may not be eligible for ESTÁ and to check with the State Dept website, which doesn't make any mention of it. You're fine.

I’m not familiar with the situation regarding Cuba but I have just completed the US visa process having previously traveled to one of the countries which excludes me from being eligible for an ESTA. It is a fairly straightforward process but it does require an in person interview at the US embassy in London. I applied for mine on June and the first appointment available was at the end of December!

On the day it all went very smoothly and I was out in around 2 hours with my passport returned to me just last week. I was granted a 10 year combined tourism and business visa so won’t have to go through the process again.

Thank you all! Sorry for the late response. I had checked the thread a few times and seeing no answer assumed it was a problem others hadn't experienced!

@Whitney168 where did you get this screenshot from?
I have had a play on the ESTA website and while it mentions Cuba on its front page and in the FAQ, the application doesn't mention Cuba itself but I read somewhere it had taken a couple of years for the US to make the last update when a country was added to the terrorist list.

@MaggieFS Unfortunately, even being granted an ESTA doesn't guarantee entry into the US. You can still get turned away there. I have read reports online of people being turned away, while others had no problems. It seems rather hit and miss.

@Brownsauce83 In principle this would be the way to go. It's just that we live so far away from London, I'd prefer to avoid having to go there if possible.

Maybe when they say it's backtracked to 2012, that's if you have a stamp ie it could be up to ten years (and was written last year)?

The UK Gov/FCO sites can be sometimes be misleading/out of date/vague when it comes to other nation's entry requirements, and some of the pay to use agencies that supposedly help with ESTAs sometimes aren't the best at keeping stuff up to date either.

The U.S. Department of State is probably a solid "go to" for definitive info

travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html

..and I can't see Cuba on their list.

As has been said by a pp getting an Visa isn't a massive problem if your situation is straight forward but it can certainly be time consuming.

IMO it's not really a process worth getting into unless you can establish for certain that you really need one.

...Having written that then out of interest goes off to look at some US CBP pages such as this and others linked to it and goes..??

esta.cbp.dhs.gov/faq?lang=en

I understand your confusion - I'm beginning to think it might be worth trying to contact the Embassy direct..??

I have been to both. Cuba 2016 and the USA 3 times since. I’ve never had an issue. I would not lie on an ESTA or any official document. Are you sure this is correct?

@OneCup, that screenshot was from the ESTA application page (or thereabouts).

Simon Calder wrote that it was being looked at to remove the retrospective part of it, but that was back in November and I can't see that it's progressed at all.

As others have said, there is mention of it in the FAQs, but not in the list of exclusionary countries.

Bastard place. I never get food poisoning anywhere, but Cuba tried to kill me - I ate nothing for three days there and bread for most of the rest of the holiday, eventually working up to cheese sandwiches. Now this. Wish I'd never gone. 😆

I am in this boat right now. I went to Cuba in 2012. There’s a lack of clear guidance and so just in case, I am going to apply for a US visa for travel to the US later this year. Personally, I’d rather err on the side of caution.

I discovered this after booking flights to America before Christmas. Had no idea until I went to fill out the ESTA... there is a link on the front page of the form 'have you traveled to Cuba?' or similar, which takes you to the page saying you then are ineligible to apply for one.

I contacted the embassy but they just sent a generic reply saying check the rules on the website (which confirmed you are ineligible if you've traveled to Cuba since 2011). I also emailed the USA border Force but got no response.

I didn't travel as I didn't have the guts to lie, and had stamps in my passport (although I briefly considered replacing it) but had no idea if they could tell where I had been previously. Also, it was months to wait for a visa appointment so no way I would have got one on time. Annoyingly, we've been to America since Cuba but it was only changed by Trump at the beginning of 2021.

I got most of my money back from Virgin but was amazed that nobody I spoke to there had any idea either, they all had to google it while I was on the phone. I also can't believe they aren't telling people this now before they book a Cuban holiday as so many people must be caught out!

I discovered this after booking flights to America before Christmas. Had no idea until I went to fill out the ESTA... there is a link on the front page of the form 'have you traveled to Cuba?' or similar, which takes you to the page saying you then are ineligible to apply for one.

We got our ESTAs to travel June 2021, presumably it’s been updated since then. I wouldn’t have lied. 😖

Thanks everyone. I am putting off booking our flights until I can work out what to do!

www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cuba-us-esta-ban-tourists-visa-b2273349.html?amp

There's an update in this Independent article. It only applies to visits post-Jan 2022, according to the article.

2021 even 🙈