I got my GC - can I go to Cuba?

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captainkit

Registered Users (C)
I couldn't figure out where to ask this so I put it in the family section since this is where I spend all my time :)

I received my conditional green card in November. I've been planning a holiday with my mum, and Mr Captainkit has just suggested that I shouldn't go to Cuba (where we want to go) because it will 'look bad' when I go to remove conditions.

Really? I'm not a US citizen, I can go to Cuba whenever I darn well want to! I just can't imagine immigration looking at my week of salsa dancing as subversive, but I guess I can't understand a lot of things that immigration does.

So... can I go to Cuba? Or should I wait until my US citizenship is safely in my hand, and then visit Cuba on my Australian passport? ;)
 
I know a lot of US citizens visit Cuba every year although it is technically banned to visit there w/o license and spend money. However, if you get caught, you'll be subject to $250,000 fine and 10 years behind bar. It is criminal changes so that it'll definitely affect your US citizenship application.
LPRs are not exempt from this regulation.
If you want to risk your 10 years and a quarter million $$, go ahead.
I always wanted to visit Cuba, but it 's not worth risking that much at this moment. I'll prolly visit there when I decide to go back to my home country and surrender GC.


http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/ascii/cuba.txt

I guess I can't understand a lot of things that immigration does
Click to expand...
Travel embargo has nothing to do with immigration authority. It is imposed by US treasury department.

By the way, there are a plenty of discussion about this topic in Thorn Tree(discussion forum of Lonely Planet).
 
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Well, if you go from another country, chances are you'll be fine. I have a friend who's Australian and American and she went to Cuba from Central America, and then went to Mexico and then to the US. She made sure NOT to bring anything from Cuba into the US, at least, not anything that could be traced back to Cuba, such as pesos and publications. Of course, Cuba doesn't really have branded stuff, so in that sense, it's easy. They give you a little tourist card as a visa, and as long as you're sure to keep your passport clean of Cuban stamps (and you can try to ask the intermediate country not to stamp your passport because you're traveling to the US- they may understand), you will probably be oke with the US. GO TO CUBA! DON'T BE INTIMIDATED BY UNCLE BLEEDING SAM!
 
you never know what will happen while you are travelling. If you got a trouble there, depending on the type of trouble, it may come to the attension of the US authority.

It's up to you whether you take the risk, but penalty is not small when it is exposed to the US government.
 
what if she misplaced or got stolen her GC and some good samaritan brings it to the US representative in Havana ?

Oh wait, nobody loses their GC.

I'm not gonna encourage her to visit there, as the penalty is pretty harsh when thing goes wrong.
If she wanna go after assessing risk and benefit, well, then that's her decision.
 
Hillary Clinton talked about lifting the travel restrictions to Cuba.... but I don't know if I would hold my breath...
 
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