U.S. Travel Regulations for Cuba (Reviewed September 2026)

Updated for the OFAC rule effective September 30, 2026.

U.S. law continues to prohibit travel to Cuba for ordinary tourist activities, but travel-related transactions may be authorized when a traveler qualifies under an applicable OFAC category and follows that category’s conditions. The September 30, 2026 rule changes several general licenses, including ending new Group People-to-People travel and the former general license for professional meetings.

How Havana Music Tours structures new scheduled cultural tours

For new scheduled Havana Music Tours cultural programs, our primary framework is Support for the Cuban People, 31 CFR § 515.574. The itinerary is designed around a full-time schedule that promotes independent activity intended to strengthen Cuban civil society, enhances contact with the Cuban people, and creates meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba.

Our operating model prioritizes the Cuban private sector: privately owned casas particulares, privately owned restaurants (paladares), independent transportation providers, private guides, independent musicians and artists, farms, studios, workshops, and other Cuban entrepreneurs. OFAC specifically recognizes private casas, paladares, and privately owned businesses as qualifying activity, but those activities alone are not enough; travelers must also participate in additional qualifying Support for the Cuban People activities sufficient to maintain the required full-time schedule.

Government institutions and cultural events

Support for the Cuban People does not mean that every person or institution encountered during a trip must be private. The legal analysis turns on the traveler’s qualifying schedule and on whether each transaction is otherwise permitted. Our programs may include limited visits to public cultural or educational institutions, such as a music school, while the overall qualifying schedule remains centered on independent Cuban activity and meaningful engagement with the Cuban people.

When appropriate, travelers may bring requested musical or educational supplies intended to support student musicians and music education, subject to applicable U.S. sanctions and export rules. A donation or school visit is not treated as a substitute for the full-time § 515.574 schedule.

Festival performances may also be included as evening cultural activities after the scheduled Support for the Cuban People programming. Attendance at a concert or festival is not, by itself, the basis on which we structure a traveler’s § 515.574 authorization.

Restricted transactions and accommodations

Havana Music Tours screens vendors and payment chains against applicable U.S. restrictions. Effective September 30, 2026, § 515.209 restricts certain direct or indirect financial transactions involving entities or subentities specifically named on the Cuba Restricted List. An entity is not automatically treated as restricted merely because it is owned or controlled by a listed entity unless it is itself specified by name on the list; nevertheless, indirect payment chains must also be reviewed.

We also screen lodging against the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List. Our scheduled tours prioritize privately owned accommodations and private transportation rather than government tourism providers.

Other Cuba travel categories

The broader regulatory framework still identifies 12 categories of potentially authorized Cuba travel-related transactions, but not every activity within those categories is covered by a general license. Professional research remains generally authorized under § 515.564(a)(1) when it relates to the traveler’s profession, professional background, or area of expertise and the required full-time research schedule is maintained. The former general license for professional meetings and conferences is removed for new travel effective September 30, 2026.

Certain academic educational activities remain authorized under § 515.565(a), subject to their specific requirements. New Group People-to-People educational travel under former § 515.565(b) is no longer generally authorized after September 30, 2026, except for qualifying grandfathered travel covered by OFAC’s transition provision.

Records and traveler responsibility

Travelers relying on a general license must satisfy the conditions that apply to their own travel. Havana Music Tours provides the itinerary and program documentation for our scheduled tours and maintains required travel-service-provider records. Current OFAC recordkeeping rules generally require relevant records to be retained for at least 10 years.

Regulations and restricted-party lists can change. We review vendors and current rules before travel, and travelers should review the current OFAC Cuba sanctions guidance, the current Cuban Assets Control Regulations, the Cuba Restricted List, and the current Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List.

This page provides general compliance information and is not legal advice.