Hi everyone,

I am a new Canadian permanent resident, and a citizen of the USA. I was planning to maybe
take a vacation in Cuba, and do not know if I am allowed to. US citizens are not permitted
to go there, except in special circumstances, but am I allowed because of my permanent
residency? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Roger

Hello Roger, I am no immigration expert, but having Canadian PR will give you no special
rights in Cuba. Down there, you will be treated as a US citizen and therefore might have
difficulty traveling. However, if you were a dual citizen of both US and Canada, then you
could use your Canadian passport to travel to Cuba with less of a hassle, without ever
letting the Cubans know of your existing US citizenship.

If you are looking for a holiday down south, try Belize or something . Very cheap and
the locals are much more friendly.... (at least according to temptation island.. but
that's another Pandora's box we don't wana get into...)

/Kevon

> Hi everyone,
>
> I am a new Canadian permanent resident, and a citizen of the USA. I was planning to
> maybe take a vacation in Cuba, and do not know if I am allowed to. US citizens are not
> permitted to go there, except in special circumstances, but am I allowed because of my
> permanent residency? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Roger

Hello Roger,
> I am no immigration expert, but having Canadian PR will give you no
special
> rights in Cuba. Down there, you will be treated as a US citizen and therefore might have
> difficulty traveling. However, if you were a dual citizen of both US and Canada, then
> you could use your Canadian passport
to
> travel to Cuba with less of a hassle, without ever letting the Cubans know of your
> existing US citizenship.

It should be noted, that even if a person is a dual US/other citizen, and he travels to
Cuba on his "other" passport, he is still in violation of US law, because, as far as the
US is concerned, he is a US citizen who went to Cuba without permission.

By the way, the US restriction is not actually on travelling to Cuba. It's a treasury
restriction that does not allow US citizens to spend any money (US or foreign) in Cuba, or
for expenses relating to travel to Cuba. So technically, travelling to Cuba is not against
US law, as long as you don't spend any money to do so.

Stephen Gallagher