Traveling to Cuba May Get Harder for Americans

What have the rules for traveling to Cuba been?

For decades, the United States banned its citizens from traveling to Cuba for tourism because of the hostile relationship between the two countries. And for many years, Americans who wanted to go to Cuba anyway would first go to another country and fly from there.

From 1999 to 2003, the United States government granted so called “people-to-people” licenses that allowed Americans to travel to Cuba if the trip was, for example, for educational or religious reasons. When President George W. Bush’s administration imposed new travel restrictions, those licenses were no longer issued.

In 2011, in an effort to thaw relations with the island, the Obama administration once again granted people-to-people licenses, making it possible for Americans who were not journalists or scholars to visit Cuba legally, as long as they went with a licensed operator.

In March 2016, the rules were expanded, making it possible for Americans to travel on their own to Cuba, as long as they took part in educational exchange activities, including interacting with Cuban people.

Under that policy, those visiting Cuba had to fall into one of 12 approved categories.

What are the 12 approved categories?

The 12 categories are: family visits; support for the Cuban people; educational, religious or journalistic activities; humanitarian projects; professional research and professional meetings; activities of private foundations, research or educational institutes; public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions; official business of the United States government, foreign governments and certain intergovernmental organizations; exportation, importation or transmission of information or informational materials; and certain authorized export transactions.