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Cuba’s new Citizenship Law took effect Sunday, Nov. 1, and it requires Cubans who hold a second nationality to identify as Cubans while on the island. Anyone who enters or leaves the country on a foreign passport, or uses one for paperwork with legal effect, now faces fines of up to 200,000 pesos.
The requirement comes from Law 172 on Citizenship, approved by the National Assembly on July 19, 2024. The regime took almost two years to publish it. It finally appeared in Official Gazette No. 39 on May 5, 2026, and the law set its own start date 180 days later. Two companion laws published in the same Gazette, on Migration (171) and on Foreign Nationals (173), also took effect Nov. 1.
How steep are the fines?
The fines are set out in articles 82 and 83, and article 84 sets the value of each cuota, the unit used to calculate them:
| Offense | Fine | Amount in pesos |
|---|---|---|
| Entering or leaving Cuba by presenting another citizenship | 300 to 500 cuotas | 30,000 to 100,000 CUP |
| Using another citizenship for acts with legal effect in Cuba | 500 to 1,000 cuotas | 50,000 to 200,000 CUP |
Each cuota is worth between 100 and 200 pesos, and the Citizenship Authority sets the amount case by case. It can also let an offender off with a warning if the violation caused no serious harm and the person has a clean record. Paperwork done at diplomatic and consular missions, international organizations and other accredited foreign offices is exempt.
Fines are due within 30 calendar days, and paying in the first three days knocks 25% off. Miss the deadline and the amount doubles. If it still goes unpaid 30 days after that, the authorities file a criminal complaint, under articles 86 to 88.
What “effective citizenship” means
The law calls this “effective citizenship” and lays it out in articles 14 and 15. Under article 14, Cubans on national territory “may not make use of a foreign citizenship.” They must identify as Cubans when they enter, stay in, pass through or leave the country, and also when dealing with Cuban embassies and consulates abroad.
Article 15 goes further. Any legal act a Cuban carries out under another citizenship to take effect inside Cuba is void, with no court proceeding needed to annul it. In practice, a contract or filing signed with a foreign passport means nothing to the Cuban state, and the person who signed it must remedy any consequences.
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Article 36 of Cuba’s 2019 Constitution already said that acquiring another citizenship does not cost anyone their Cuban one, but that Cubans inside the country may not use a foreign citizenship. The new law turns that principle into a finable offense. A Cuban who became a U.S. or Spanish citizen is, as far as Havana is concerned, only Cuban while on the island.
Giving up Cuban citizenship is up to the state
The law spells out how to renounce Cuban citizenship. Applications must be filed from abroad, at the Cuban consulate in the country where the applicant lives.
Applicants must be 18 or older, hold another citizenship, be outside Cuba, owe no money to the Cuban state or its institutions, and not be serving a prison sentence or facing prosecution. Filing the paperwork is not enough: the renunciation only takes effect once the government approves it by presidential decree or resolution.
The Citizenship Law draws a line between losing citizenship and being stripped of it. Citizenship obtained through fraud, for example, is lost. Under article 55, Cubans can be stripped of it for joining armed groups against the state or for committing acts abroad “contrary to the high political, economic and social interests” of the Republic of Cuba, if the Citizenship Authority decides so.
It is an administrative decision, issued by presidential decree under article 56. The law does not say which acts qualify. And if the Citizenship Authority believes national security or the stability of the state is seriously at risk, article 55 lets it issue the decree without the usual procedure.
What the Citizenship Law means for Cubans in Miami
Cuban Americans still need a valid Cuban passport to enter Cuba. Traveling on a U.S. passport alone, without an approved renunciation, can now get them fined.
The law takes effect weeks after the regime raised the price of the Cuban passport to 200 dollars or euros (in Spanish) for Cubans living abroad. For some exiles, the passport has become a symbol: independent journalist and former political prisoner Bernardo Arévalo Padrón shared on Facebook the moment he destroyed his own (in Spanish).
Under article 14, holding another citizenship is not, on its own, grounds for losing Cuban citizenship. And under article 7, a parent’s foreign citizenship has no effect on their children’s Cuban citizenship.
This article is a general overview of the Citizenship Law. Every immigration case is different, so check yours with a lawyer.
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