Driving and Licence Exchange
Six months on your own licence, and then a Cuban one issued without any test at all. The Road Safety Code lets a foreigner, or a Cuban permanently resident abroad, who is temporarily in Cuba drive categories A, A1 and B for a non-extendable six months from the date of entry, on a licence valid for those vehicles in their country of residence. Past six months the national licence becomes necessary, and the Code says in terms that it may be obtained on payment of the document tax without sitting any examination. That is the opposite of the ordinary route, where an applicant takes a medical, a theory test and a practical test. The six months runs from entry rather than from the start of residence, and it cannot be extended.
At a glance
- Driving on a foreign licence
- 6 months from entry, non-extendable
- Categories covered
- A, A1 and B
Ley 109 art. 275 names categories "A" and "B" and subcategory "A1" of the national licence classification, which is cars and motorcycles and nothing heavier.
- After 6 months
- The Cuban national licence is necessary
- Examination for that licence
- None
- Ordinary applicant
- Medical, theory and practical examinations
- International driving permit
- Issued by Cuba under the Vienna Convention of 1968
Requirements
- A licence or official authorisation in force entitling you to drive those vehicles in your country of residence
- Being temporarily in the national territory
- Categories A and B and subcategory A1 only
- After six months from entry, the Cuban national licence
- For the Cuban licence on this route: payment of the document tax, and no examination
In detail
The six months starts when you land
Article 275 counts from the date of entry into the national territory, not from the date residence is granted or from the date you first drive. Someone who arrives, spends four months arranging a residence application and then buys a car has two months left. The Code calls the period improrrogable - non-extendable - which is unusually firm language for a provision of this kind, and it limits the categories to A, A1 and B, so nothing heavier than a car or a motorcycle.
An exchange with no test, which is rarer than it sounds
Most countries in this set either require a foreign licence holder to sit the local test, or exchange only with countries they have an agreement with. Cuba's Code does neither: article 276 says the national licence may be obtained on payment of the document tax without sitting any examination, with the Ministry of the Interior to establish the details. The ordinary applicant in article 270 faces a medical, a theory test and a practical test. The exception is drafted as a general one and does not depend on which country issued the licence.
Country-level policy
Cuba publishes in a single official gazette and an instrument carries the gazette's identifier as part of its name: GOC-2026-290-O39 is the Migration Law, and the O39 is edition thirty-nine of the ordinary series. There are three series. An edición ordinaria is the regular run; an edición extraordinaria is used when something cannot wait, and the two series number separately, so Ordinaria 39 and Extraordinaria 60 both appeared on 5 May 2026. The third series is what makes consolidated Cuban law readable at all: an edición especial reprints a single instrument anotada y concordada, with the amendments worked in and a footnote under each amended article naming the instrument that changed it. That is where a consolidation date comes from here - the day the special edition was published - and never from the name of the edition.
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«Los extranjeros o cubanos residentes permanentes en el extranjero que se encuentran transitoriamente en el territorio nacional, pueden conducir vehículos de motor de los comprendidos en las categorías “A” y “B” y subcategoría “A1” de la clasificación de la licencia de conducción nacional, durante un período improrrogable de seis meses, contados a partir de la fecha de entrada en el territorio nacional, siempre que posean una licencia o autorización oficial en pleno vigor que los capacite para conducir tales vehículos en su país de residencia.»Our translation - not official
Foreigners or Cubans permanently resident abroad who are temporarily in the national territory may drive motor vehicles of those comprised in categories "A" and "B" and subcategory "A1" of the classification of the national driving licence, for a non-extendable period of six months counted from the date of entry into the national territory, provided they hold a licence or official authorisation in full force entitling them to drive such vehicles in their country of residence.
About this source
Cuba's single official gazette, run by the Ministry of Justice. An instrument's identity includes its gazette reference - Ley 171/2024 is GOC-2026-290-O39 - and there is no competing publisher of record. Three series: ordinaria, the regular run; extraordinaria, numbered separately and used for what must take effect on publication, so Ordinaria 39 and Extraordinaria 60 share the date 5 May 2026; and especial, which reprints a single instrument anotada y concordada with every amendment worked in and a footnote under each amended article naming the instrument that changed it. The special editions are the only consolidated Cuban law there is, and they are good: each states in its opening note the decree-law that ordered it and lists every amendment incorporated.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its online archive begins in 1990, which for migration means the law actually in force until 1 November 2026 - Ley 1312 of 1976, Ley 1313 of 1976 and the decrees-law 302 of 2012 and 327 of 2015 - cannot be read at the publisher of record while the laws replacing them can. Its own migration keyword index lists nothing earlier than 1999. It cannot be cited for consolidated law outside the especial series: an ordinaria or extraordinaria edition prints acts as made, and an amending decree-law there amends by instruction rather than by reprinting. A consolidation date must come from the masthead of the special edition and never from the name of the law or from the last amendment incorporated. Its PDFs break words across lines with a hyphen that survives into any verbatim quotation, and its summary pages are not always reliable - the customs special edition's contents page names the instrument Decreto-Ley 22/2021 while the decree printed two pages later is dated 24 November 2020. Nothing here is available through the extraction service in usable form; every reading was taken with pdftotext.
We re-read it every 21 days. More about this source
«Cuando la estancia a que se refiere el artículo anterior se prolongue por más de seis meses, es necesario obtener la licencia de conducción nacional. Esta licencia puede ser obtenida previo el pago del impuesto sobre documentos corres- pondiente, sin realizar examen alguno, de conformidad con lo que al respecto establece el Ministerio del Interior.»Our translation - not official
Where the stay referred to in the preceding article extends beyond six months, it is necessary to obtain the national driving licence. That licence may be obtained upon payment of the corresponding document tax, without sitting any examination, in accordance with what the Ministry of the Interior establishes in that regard.
Words broken across a line in the Gaceta's PDF keep their hyphen here. The quotation is not tidied.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Cuba's single official gazette, run by the Ministry of Justice. An instrument's identity includes its gazette reference - Ley 171/2024 is GOC-2026-290-O39 - and there is no competing publisher of record. Three series: ordinaria, the regular run; extraordinaria, numbered separately and used for what must take effect on publication, so Ordinaria 39 and Extraordinaria 60 share the date 5 May 2026; and especial, which reprints a single instrument anotada y concordada with every amendment worked in and a footnote under each amended article naming the instrument that changed it. The special editions are the only consolidated Cuban law there is, and they are good: each states in its opening note the decree-law that ordered it and lists every amendment incorporated.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its online archive begins in 1990, which for migration means the law actually in force until 1 November 2026 - Ley 1312 of 1976, Ley 1313 of 1976 and the decrees-law 302 of 2012 and 327 of 2015 - cannot be read at the publisher of record while the laws replacing them can. Its own migration keyword index lists nothing earlier than 1999. It cannot be cited for consolidated law outside the especial series: an ordinaria or extraordinaria edition prints acts as made, and an amending decree-law there amends by instruction rather than by reprinting. A consolidation date must come from the masthead of the special edition and never from the name of the law or from the last amendment incorporated. Its PDFs break words across lines with a hyphen that survives into any verbatim quotation, and its summary pages are not always reliable - the customs special edition's contents page names the instrument Decreto-Ley 22/2021 while the decree printed two pages later is dated 24 November 2020. Nothing here is available through the extraction service in usable form; every reading was taken with pdftotext.
We re-read it every 21 days. More about this source
«El aspirante a la obtención de una licencia de conducción, de cua- lesquiera de las categorías establecidas en el presente Código, se somete, previamente, a exámenes médico, teórico y práctico.»Our translation - not official
An applicant for a driving licence of any of the categories established in this Code shall first undergo medical, theoretical and practical examinations.
The ordinary route, against which article 276 is an exception. Words broken across a line in the Gaceta's PDF keep their hyphen here. The quotation is not tidied.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Cuba's single official gazette, run by the Ministry of Justice. An instrument's identity includes its gazette reference - Ley 171/2024 is GOC-2026-290-O39 - and there is no competing publisher of record. Three series: ordinaria, the regular run; extraordinaria, numbered separately and used for what must take effect on publication, so Ordinaria 39 and Extraordinaria 60 share the date 5 May 2026; and especial, which reprints a single instrument anotada y concordada with every amendment worked in and a footnote under each amended article naming the instrument that changed it. The special editions are the only consolidated Cuban law there is, and they are good: each states in its opening note the decree-law that ordered it and lists every amendment incorporated.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its online archive begins in 1990, which for migration means the law actually in force until 1 November 2026 - Ley 1312 of 1976, Ley 1313 of 1976 and the decrees-law 302 of 2012 and 327 of 2015 - cannot be read at the publisher of record while the laws replacing them can. Its own migration keyword index lists nothing earlier than 1999. It cannot be cited for consolidated law outside the especial series: an ordinaria or extraordinaria edition prints acts as made, and an amending decree-law there amends by instruction rather than by reprinting. A consolidation date must come from the masthead of the special edition and never from the name of the law or from the last amendment incorporated. Its PDFs break words across lines with a hyphen that survives into any verbatim quotation, and its summary pages are not always reliable - the customs special edition's contents page names the instrument Decreto-Ley 22/2021 while the decree printed two pages later is dated 24 November 2020. Nothing here is available through the extraction service in usable form; every reading was taken with pdftotext.
We re-read it every 21 days. More about this source
«La licencia de conducción internacional o permiso internacional de conducción expedido por la República de Cuba, se atiene a los requisitos aprobados por la Convención de Viena de 1968, sobre Circulación por Carreteras y a lo establecido para su expedición por las normas y autoridades cubanas en esta materia.»Our translation - not official
The international driving licence or international driving permit issued by the Republic of Cuba complies with the requirements approved by the Vienna Convention of 1968 on Road Traffic and with what is established for its issue by Cuban rules and authorities.
About this source
Cuba's single official gazette, run by the Ministry of Justice. An instrument's identity includes its gazette reference - Ley 171/2024 is GOC-2026-290-O39 - and there is no competing publisher of record. Three series: ordinaria, the regular run; extraordinaria, numbered separately and used for what must take effect on publication, so Ordinaria 39 and Extraordinaria 60 share the date 5 May 2026; and especial, which reprints a single instrument anotada y concordada with every amendment worked in and a footnote under each amended article naming the instrument that changed it. The special editions are the only consolidated Cuban law there is, and they are good: each states in its opening note the decree-law that ordered it and lists every amendment incorporated.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its online archive begins in 1990, which for migration means the law actually in force until 1 November 2026 - Ley 1312 of 1976, Ley 1313 of 1976 and the decrees-law 302 of 2012 and 327 of 2015 - cannot be read at the publisher of record while the laws replacing them can. Its own migration keyword index lists nothing earlier than 1999. It cannot be cited for consolidated law outside the especial series: an ordinaria or extraordinaria edition prints acts as made, and an amending decree-law there amends by instruction rather than by reprinting. A consolidation date must come from the masthead of the special edition and never from the name of the law or from the last amendment incorporated. Its PDFs break words across lines with a hyphen that survives into any verbatim quotation, and its summary pages are not always reliable - the customs special edition's contents page names the instrument Decreto-Ley 22/2021 while the decree printed two pages later is dated 24 November 2020. Nothing here is available through the extraction service in usable form; every reading was taken with pdftotext.
We re-read it every 21 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The text used is the Gaceta's own annotated and concorded edition of Ley 109, Edición Especial 10 of 10 August 2026, published to fulfil a mandate in Decreto-Ley 122 of 22 July 2026.
Article 276 leaves the detail of how the licence is obtained to the Ministry of the Interior. We did not read any ministerial instrument, so no fee, office or document list is published here.
- issuesGaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba, Edición Especial No. 10 de 10 de agosto de 2026 - Ley 109 Código de Seguridad Vial (anotada y concordada)
Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba - Ministerio de Justicia · consolidated to 2026-08-10
About this source
Cuba's single official gazette, run by the Ministry of Justice. An instrument's identity includes its gazette reference - Ley 171/2024 is GOC-2026-290-O39 - and there is no competing publisher of record. Three series: ordinaria, the regular run; extraordinaria, numbered separately and used for what must take effect on publication, so Ordinaria 39 and Extraordinaria 60 share the date 5 May 2026; and especial, which reprints a single instrument anotada y concordada with every amendment worked in and a footnote under each amended article naming the instrument that changed it. The special editions are the only consolidated Cuban law there is, and they are good: each states in its opening note the decree-law that ordered it and lists every amendment incorporated.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its online archive begins in 1990, which for migration means the law actually in force until 1 November 2026 - Ley 1312 of 1976, Ley 1313 of 1976 and the decrees-law 302 of 2012 and 327 of 2015 - cannot be read at the publisher of record while the laws replacing them can. Its own migration keyword index lists nothing earlier than 1999. It cannot be cited for consolidated law outside the especial series: an ordinaria or extraordinaria edition prints acts as made, and an amending decree-law there amends by instruction rather than by reprinting. A consolidation date must come from the masthead of the special edition and never from the name of the law or from the last amendment incorporated. Its PDFs break words across lines with a hyphen that survives into any verbatim quotation, and its summary pages are not always reliable - the customs special edition's contents page names the instrument Decreto-Ley 22/2021 while the decree printed two pages later is dated 24 November 2020. Nothing here is available through the extraction service in usable form; every reading was taken with pdftotext.
We re-read it every 21 days. More about this source