Travel to Cuba just became more difficult again in 2025, as the current president of the United States signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum to strengthen the policy of the United States toward Cuba.
Travel to Cuba Just Became More Difficult. Again. In 2025.
Donald J. Trump is continuing efforts from his first term to stand with the Cuban people by fostering a free and democratic Cuba and hold the current Communist regime accountable for the suffering of its people for decades.
According to this official fact sheet that was released from The White House on Monday, June 30, 2025, the National Security Presidential Memorandum:
- Ends economic practices that disproportionately benefit the Cuban government, military, intelligence, or security agencies at the expense of the Cuban people.
- Enforces the statutory ban on tourism of citizens of the United States to Cuba; and ensures compliance through regular audits and mandatory record-keeping of all travel-related transactions for at least five years.
- Supports the economic embargo of Cuba; and opposes calls in the United Nations and other international forums for its termination.
- Amplifies efforts to support the Cuban people through the expansion of internet services, free press, free enterprise, free association, and lawful travel.
- Ensures that the “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy remains terminated to discourage dangerous, unlawful migration.
- Ensures that engagement between the United States and Cuba advances the interests of the United States and the Cuban people — including through promoting human rights, fostering a private sector independent of government control, and enhancing national security.
- Mandates a review of human rights abuses in Cuba — including unlawful detentions and inhumane treatment — and requires a report on fugitives from American justice living in Cuba or being harbored by the Cuban government.
Citizens of the United States who travel to Cuba will be scrutinized and may face steep penalties of civil fines of as much as $250,000.00 — as well as potentially face criminal prosecution for violations that are committed. Active enforcement is expected to begin sometime this summer by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department of the United States, with requests of records, spot audits, and crackdowns on third-party sites for booking travel reservations.
The twelve categories of travel to Cuba of which citizens of the United States are currently officially authorized to do are:
- Family visits
- Official business of the federal government of the United States, foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations
- Journalistic activity
- Professional research and professional meetings
- Educational activities
- Religious activities
- Public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions
- Support for the Cuban people
- Humanitarian projects
- Activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes
- Exportation, importation, or transmission of information or informational materials
- Certain authorized export transactions
If you are a citizen of the United States who is allowed to visit Cuba, know that the new rules prohibit you from doing business with numerous hotel and resort properties, transportation companies, and retail chains that are controlled by the Cuban military. Click here for the official list of entities and subentities that are associated with Cuba with which direct financial transactions are prohibited by the Department of State of the United States.
Also keep in mind that credit cards which are issued in the United States cannot be used in most places in Cuba; so visitors would need to bring a lot of cash to the country for most expenses — which in and of itself is risky for a variety of reasons.
Additional information with links is provided by the Embassy of the United States in Cuba.
A Brief Recent History on Travel to Cuba From the United States
On Tuesday, February 16, 2016, the Department of Transportation of the United States invited airlines based in the United States who were interested in providing scheduled services between the United States and Cuba to apply for the necessary authority and an allocation of the frequencies available for scheduled services. 13 carriers filed applications for United States-Cuba authority, and seven of those 13 applied for authority to serve cities other than Havana. The requests to serve the non-Havana cities are all under the daily cap of 10 flights at each of the nine airports, and the applications approved by the Department of Transportation of the United States were uncontested on the record.
Six domestic airlines based in the United States had been granted approval to begin scheduled commercial flights back on Friday, June 10, 2016 between five origination cities in the United States and nine destination cities in Cuba for the first time in greater than 50 years — but service to Cuba had eventually declined within the past nine years, as some flight routes had been discontinued; and travel to Cuba from the United States had already diminished by almost 30 percent in 2025.
Some of the policies, restrictions, and measures which the United States imposed against Cuba were eased on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 to increase support for the Cuban people and safeguard the national security interests of the United States — including travel to the island nation and the lifting of the cap of $1,000.00 per quarter on family remittances; while ensuring that visiting the United States is easier for Cubans as more visas will be processed.
Final Boarding Call
As to when travel to and from Cuba will once again be widely available to citizens of the United States is still unknown at the time this article was written — but with the tightening of restrictions, that certainly will not happen under the current administration in the United States unless something substantially drastic happens..
I still have never been to Cuba — but I hope that someday I will be able to do so…
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