Residency Through Marriage or a De Facto Union
Marriage to a Cuban is the first ground listed for permanent residence, and the law puts an unregistered affective de facto union on the same footing provided it is recorded before a notary or recognised by a court and entered in the register. The Cuban partner must have effective residence in the country, which is a presence test rather than a matter of holding a Cuban passport. The ground also carries minor children and minor grandchildren of two foreign parents who belong to the applicant's family nucleus. It does not shorten the road: the applicant still passes through a year of provisional residence and still pays the thousand-dollar deposit, and marriage only shortens naturalisation, from five years of permanent residence to two.
At a glance
- Marriage ground
- Permanent residence, Ley 171 art. 49(a)
- De facto union
- Equal footing, if notarised or judicially recognised and registered
- Condition on the Cuban partner
- Effective residence in Cuba
- Children and grandchildren
- Minors of two foreign parents in the family nucleus
- Guarantee deposit
- USD 1 000 per person
Decreto 136/2025 arts. 158(c) and 159(g) write it as "mil (1000) dólares estadounidenses, euros o moneda libremente convertible", non-refundable, for the applicant and each accompanying foreigner.
- Provisional residence first
- 1 year
- Decision on provisional residence
- 180 working days
- Naturalisation after marriage
- 2 years of permanent residence
Against five years on the ordinary ground.
Requirements
- A marriage, or an affective de facto union recorded before a notary or recognised by a court and registered, with a Cuban citizen
- The Cuban spouse or partner must have effective residence in the country
- A marriage or union certificate from the Cuban Civil Registry; a marriage abroad must be legalised at a Cuban consulate and transcribed into the Cuban Civil Registry
- Birth certificates for any parents, children and minor grandchildren included in the application
- A notarial deed from a foreign parent outside the marriage authorising a minor's permanent residence
- A notarial document from the owner of a dwelling authorising the applicant to be domiciled there, or a Property Register certificate
- The non-refundable guarantee deposit of USD 1 000 for the applicant and each accompanying foreigner
- Radiographic and serological examinations
In detail
A de facto union counts, but only once it is on a register
The law does not distinguish between marriage and an affective de facto union; it distinguishes between a union that has been formalised and one that has not. The ground requires notarial instrumentation or judicial recognition and registration. Where the relationship was formed abroad, the regulation sets out the chain: legalisation at a Cuban consulate in the country where it was formalised, then transcription into the Cuban Civil Registry, and the certificate that comes out of the Cuban register is the document the application needs.
Effective residence of the Cuban partner is a condition of the ground
Both the migration law and the foreigners law attach the same qualifier: the Cuban spouse or partner must have effective residence in the country. That is a defined concept rather than a figure of speech - accumulating most of the preceding year's time in Cuba, with a path to recognition on other evidence for someone who falls short. A couple living abroad who want to move to Cuba cannot use this ground on the strength of the Cuban partner's nationality alone.
Marriage buys time at the naturalisation stage, not at the residence stage
The sequence is the same for everyone: provisional residence for a year, then a decision on permanent residence within sixty working days, with the thousand-dollar deposit paid at the outset. Where marriage does shorten things is afterwards. Ley 172 requires five years of permanent residence to naturalise, but two years for the spouse, mother or father of a Cuban by birth.
Country-level policy
Cuba keeps dual nationality and denies it effect. Acquiring another citizenship does not cost a Cuban theirs - the Constitution says so and the citizenship law repeats it - but a Cuban in the national territory is governed by that status alone and may not make use of a foreign citizenship. Acts done in Cuba under a foreign nationality are void, and the law adds that no annulment process is needed to make them so. A Cuban must identify as Cuban on entering, staying, transiting and leaving, and in legal acts done in Cuba or before a Cuban consulate. The practical shape is that a dual national travels to Cuba on a Cuban passport, and the consular protection of the other state is not available to them there.
On 5 May 2026 the Gaceta Oficial published, in a single ordinary edition, three laws and three subordinate instruments that replace Cuban migration, foreigners and citizenship law entirely: Ley 171 de Migración, Ley 172 de Ciudadanía, Ley 173 de Extranjería, their two regulations and the Citizenship Register regulation. Every one of them states that it enters into force one hundred and eighty days after publication, which is 1 November 2026. Until that day the law in force is Ley 1312 of 1976 as amended, Ley 1313 of 1976 and Decreto-Ley 352 of 2017, all of which the new laws repeal. This is not an inference: a decree-law of April 2026 says in its own recitals that Ley 1312 is still in application and that Ley 171's commencement is a hundred and eighty days away, which is why it had to legislate separately.
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.
Cuban migration law has a concept with no equivalent in the other countries covered here, and almost every rule about foreigners touches it. Effective migratory residence is the condition of having accumulated, over the preceding year, most of your time in the national territory; the migration directorate determines it on its own motion at more than a hundred and eighty natural days. Someone short of that can apply to have it recognised instead, on more than a hundred and twenty days of physical presence plus other acts showing an intention to live there - a Cuban spouse, paid work, an investment, a home, a regularly operated Cuban bank account, tax compliance. It decides whether a Cuban spouse can support a residence application, whether five years of residence count towards permanent residence, whether permanent residence survives, and who the character references for naturalisation may be.
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
«Pueden solicitar la clasificación migratoria de residente permanente los extranjeros que se encuentren en alguno de los supuestos siguientes: a) Tener constituida una familia a partir de un matrimonio o unión de hecho afectiva con instrumentación notarial o reconocimiento judicial y su inscripción registral, con ciudadana o ciudadano cubano que tenga residencia efectiva en el país; incluye a sus hijos e hijas y nietos y nietas menores de edad, ambos de padres y madres extranjeras, que formen parte del núcleo familiar del interesado; b) ser padres o madres de ciudadano cubano por nacimiento con residencia efectiva en el país; c) los que hayan residido en Cuba durante más de cinco años bajo alguna de las clasi- ficaciones migratorias de residente y cuenten con residencia efectiva migratoria al momento de la solicitud; d) los extranjeros que acrediten, mediante titulación y experticia, una preparación pro- fesional superior o se conozca que gozan de prestigio internacional en la esfera de la ciencia, el deporte, la cultura, las artes y los que por su vinculación con las funciones de los órganos del Estado u organismos de la Administración Central del Estado lo avalan; y e) los extranjeros que dispongan de un importante patrimonio en el exterior o en una institución bancaria cubana.»Our translation - not official
Foreigners in any of the following situations may apply for the migratory classification of permanent resident: a) having a family constituted by marriage or an affective de facto union recorded before a notary or recognised by a court and registered, with a Cuban citizen in effective residence in the country, including their minor children and grandchildren, both of foreign parents, forming part of the applicant's family nucleus; b) being the parent of a Cuban citizen by birth in effective residence in the country; c) those who have resided in Cuba for more than five years under any of the resident migratory classifications and hold effective migratory residence at the time of application; d) foreigners who prove, by qualification and expertise, higher professional training, or who are known to enjoy international standing in science, sport, culture or the arts, and those endorsed by their links with the functions of organs of the State or bodies of the Central State Administration; and e) foreigners who have a significant patrimony abroad or in a Cuban banking institution.
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
«Los extranjeros residentes temporales, de inmobiliarias y humanitarios tienen derecho a solicitar el cambio de clasificación migratoria para residente permanente cuando reúnen el requisito de contar con familia constituida a partir de un matrimonio o unión de hecho afectiva»Our translation - not official
Foreigners who are temporary, real-estate and humanitarian residents have the right to apply for a change of migratory classification to permanent resident where they meet the requirement of having a family constituted by marriage or an affective de facto union.
Quoted to the point where the sentence runs on to the next page of the gazette. The remainder of the condition - notarial or judicial recognition, registration, and a Cuban spouse with effective residence in the country - is in the same terms as article 49(a) of Ley 171.
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
«Para presentar la solicitud amparada en el Artículo 49, inciso a) de la Ley de Migración, se acompañan los documentos siguientes: a) Certificación de matrimonio o de la unión de hecho afectiva, emitida por el Registro Civil de la República de Cuba; b) certificación de matrimonio cubano resultante de la transcripción del matrimonio, legalizada ante la representación consular de la República de Cuba en el país donde se formalizó el vínculo e inscrita en la Oficina del Registro Civil correspondiente en el territorio nacional, en los casos en que el matrimonio o la unión de hecho afectiva se haya realizado en el extranjero; c) certificación de nacimiento de los padres, hijos y nietos menores de edad que for- men parte del núcleo familiar del interesado, para los que se solicite la Residencia Permanente; d) escritura notarial del padre o madre extranjero que no es parte del matrimonio o unión de hecho afectiva, que ampara la solicitud de la Residencia Permanente, para los menores de edad establecidos en el inciso anterior, en la que se autorice la ob- tención de la Residencia Permanente en la República de Cuba; e) documento otorgado ante notario público del titular de un inmueble, donde conste la autorización para que se domicilie en su vivienda el interesado; f) certificación de la inscripción del inmueble en el Registro de la Propiedad, cuando sean propietarios de la vivienda en este caso pueden optar por presentar el documento a que se refiere el inciso anterior o la certificación que acredite ese particular; y g) constancia del depósito de los mil (1000) dólares estadounidenses, euros o moneda libremente convertible en una sucursal de la República de Cuba.»Our translation - not official
To make an application under article 49(a) of the Migration Law the following documents are to be attached: a) a marriage or affective de facto union certificate issued by the Civil Registry of the Republic of Cuba; b) a Cuban marriage certificate resulting from the transcription of the marriage, legalised before the consular mission of the Republic of Cuba in the country where the bond was formalised and recorded in the relevant Civil Registry office in the national territory, where the marriage or affective de facto union took place abroad; c) birth certificates of the parents, children and minor grandchildren forming part of the applicant's family nucleus for whom Permanent Residence is sought; d) a notarial deed of the foreign father or mother who is not party to the marriage or affective de facto union supporting the application for Permanent Residence, for the minors referred to in the preceding subparagraph, authorising the obtaining of Permanent Residence in the Republic of Cuba; e) a document granted before a notary public by the holder of an immovable property recording the authorisation for the person concerned to be domiciled in their dwelling; f) a certificate of registration of the property in the Property Register, where they own the dwelling, in which case they may choose to present the document referred to in the preceding subparagraph or the certificate attesting that fact; and g) proof of the deposit of the one thousand (1000) United States dollars, euros or freely convertible currency in a branch in the Republic of Cuba.
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
«Además de los documentos establecidos en los apartados anteriores, los interesados deben presentar exámenes radiográficos y serológicos.»Our translation - not official
In addition to the documents established in the preceding paragraphs, applicants must present radiographic and serological examinations.
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
«realizar un depósito en garantía en una sucursal bancaria de la República de Cuba, ascendente a mil (1000) dólares estadounidenses, euros o moneda libremente con- vertible, no reembolsable, por el solicitante y cada uno de sus acompañantes extran- jeros, como evidencia de que cuenta con solvencia económica»Our translation - not official
make a non-refundable guarantee deposit at a bank branch in the Republic of Cuba amounting to one thousand (1000) United States dollars, euros or freely convertible currency, by the applicant and each of their accompanying foreigners, as evidence that they have economic means
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
«Para los trámites de la clasificación migratoria de Residente Perma- nente se radica un expediente por cada solicitud, el cual se instruye y concluye en un término de ciento ochenta días hábiles contados a partir de recibida esta por la Unidad correspondiente.»Our translation - not official
For the processing of the migratory classification of Permanent Resident a file is opened for each application, which is instructed and concluded within a term of one hundred and eighty working days counted from its receipt by the relevant Unit.
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
«Transcurrido el término de un año de haber sido aprobada la Residencia Provisional, la Autoridad Migratoria actuante notifica al interesado sobre la aprobación o no de la Residencia Permanente, mediante resolución, en un plazo de hasta sesenta días hábiles.»Our translation - not official
Once the term of one year from the approval of Provisional Residence has elapsed, the acting Migration Authority notifies the applicant of the approval or refusal of Permanent Residence, by resolution, within a period of up to sixty working days.
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
«ser cónyuge, madre o padre, de ciudadano cubano por nacimiento, siempre que po- sea la clasificación migratoria de residente permanente por un período de dos años o más anteriores a la solicitud;»Our translation - not official
being the spouse, mother or father of a Cuban citizen by birth, provided they hold the migratory classification of permanent resident for a period of two years or more preceding the application;
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
Practical notes
The whole regime comes into force on 1 November 2026. Until then the law is Ley 1312 of 1976 and Ley 1313 of 1976, neither of which the Gaceta Oficial publishes in any edition we could read.
The requirement of radiographic and serological examinations is general to permanent residence applications and is quoted from article 149(3) of the regulation. The regulation does not say what the serological examination tests for.
- issuesGaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba, Edición Ordinaria No. 39 de 5 de mayo de 2026
Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba - Ministerio de Justicia
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