On 5 May 2026, the Ordinary Official Gazette No. 39 of the Republic of Cuba published the regulations developing the country’s new legislative framework on migration, citizenship, and foreign nationals. These long-awaited legal instruments follow the approval, on 19 July 2024 by the National Assembly of People’s Power, of three cornerstone laws: Law No. 171, the Migration Law; Law No. 172, the Citizenship Law; and Law No. 173, the Foreign Nationals Law. The main expectation had centred on their implementing regulations and complementary norms, which are essential to understanding how new migration categories, residence procedures, citizenship processes, public registries, authorisations for foreigners, and the system of offences and administrative measures would be applied.
With this publication, the new system moves from a proposed reform to an operational framework. Alongside the main laws, the Gazette publishes the essential implementing regulations: Decree No. 136/2025, the Regulation of the Migration Law; Decree No. 137/2025, the Regulation of the Foreign Nationals Law; and Resolution No. 24/2025 of the Ministry of the Interior, which approves the Regulation of the Citizenship Registry.
The reform should not be understood as a merely formal update. In practice, it represents a shift towards a system with new migration categories, more precise procedural rules strengthening transparency and due process, new registries, and tighter control over migration, citizenship, and foreign status. Its scope extends to Cubans residing abroad, individuals with dual citizenship, foreign nationals, and generally any natural or legal person involved in such matters. The regulatory package provides for a deferred entry into force 180 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.
Migration Law and its Regulation: reorganisation of the Cuban Migration System
Law No. 171/2024, the Migration Law, establishes the general framework of Cuba’s migration process and structures it under a systemic approach aimed at managing international mobility in accordance with national legislation and applicable international treaties. Its Regulation, Decree No. 136/2025, translates this framework into operational terms, establishing the rules governing the so-called Cuban Migration System, composed of the migration process, migration policy, the legal regime governing it, and the migration authority responsible for its administration.
In practical terms, the law does not merely regulate entry and exit from the country; it organises the entire migration process, including emigration and immigration sub-processes, and defines the corresponding documentation, rights, guarantees, obligations, and migration controls associated with them.
One of the most relevant concepts is effective migration residence. The Regulation defines it as the status granted to Cuban citizens and resident foreign nationals who accumulate more than 180 calendar days of presence in the national territory per year. Those who do not meet this threshold may request recognition if they demonstrate ties to Cuba through other elements evidencing their intention to reside in the country, and they retain this status as long as the conditions justifying it remain in place.
The law recognises two main migration categories for Cuban citizens: residents in the national territory and residents abroad. The former are those who meet the condition of effective migration residence. The latter are those who habitually reside outside the country and include the statuses of resident abroad, emigrant, and investors and businesspersons.
The investors and businesspersons status is one of the most significant innovations. Cuban citizens residing abroad or emigrants who participate in any modality of the national economy may apply for this status. While in Cuba and holding it, they are granted equal rights to those of Cuban residents in the national territory.
In addition, emigrants are recognised as having the right to acquire the status of resident abroad. They are also granted the right to use, enjoy, and freely dispose of their property. The removal of the previous 24-month limit for staying abroad prevents the automatic expansion of emigrant status, which is now only maintained for those who already held it before the new law and do not seek to change their migration status.
The new migration policy reflects the State’s interest in managing mobility in a regular, orderly, and safe manner, while encouraging both return migration and the participation of Cubans residing abroad in the national economic model.
Citizenship Law: substantive regulation and citizenship registry
Law No. 172/2024, the Citizenship Law, fills an important normative gap in the Cuban legal system. The law itself acknowledges that Cuban citizenship previously lacked a comprehensive general statute and was instead governed by scattered provisions. In this context, Law No. 172 develops the constitutional principles and establishes a general legal framework governing the legal relationship between individuals and the Cuban State, specifying that Cuban citizenship is acquired by birth or naturalisation.
Its practical significance lies in systematising the key elements of the legal regime of Cuban citizenship and organising the requirements, formalities, and timelines applicable to procedures such as acquisition, loss, deprivation, and recovery of citizenship. It also introduces the concept of effective citizenship, under which Cuban citizens, even if they hold another nationality, must act and identify as Cuban while in Cuba or when carrying out legal acts before Cuban authorities.
A major innovation is the creation of the Citizenship Registry, responsible for recording acts and facts related to Cuban citizenship and issuing legally relevant information. Resolution No. 24/2025 of the Ministry of the Interior approves the Regulation of the Citizenship Registry, enabling the systematic recording and consultation of previously fragmented information.
Foreign Nationals Law: reorganisation of the Foreigners System
Law No. 173, the Foreign Nationals Law, and its implementing regulation, Decree No. 137/2025, govern the admission, protection, identification, and legal documentation of foreign nationals visiting or residing in Cuba, as well as their social integration process.
Similarly to the Migration System, the law establishes a Foreign Nationals System, composed of the foreign status process, admission policy, the competent authority, and the applicable legal framework.
Under the law, the foreign status process includes immigration procedures and the return of foreign nationals to their country of origin or previous residence, in accordance with admission policies designed to regulate entry based on national interests, employment policy, and migration classification.
The new framework reorganises migration categories and expands eligibility grounds. Foreign nationals may be classified as residents (temporary, real estate, humanitarian, provisional, and permanent) or non-residents (visitors, diplomatic personnel, and invited persons).
The practical impact lies in the strict requirement that all activities carried out by foreign nationals in Cuba must correspond to their authorised classification and sub-classification, as well as their permitted conditions of stay or residence. Accordingly, any labour, academic, commercial, family, real estate, humanitarian, or other activity must comply with the authorised legal status, documentation, duration of stay, and any required approvals.
The law strengthens compliance, reporting, and cooperation obligations for both foreign nationals and individuals or legal entities authorised to employ, host, or engage with them. It also specifies the system of infringements, migration measures, and sanctions applicable in cases of non-compliance with authorised conditions of stay or residence.