Cuba Policy Information
For the past 50 years, most U.S. citizens have been legally prohibited from traveling to Cuba. Restrictions on travel by Americans to Cuba are based on legislation passed by Congress that gives the U.S. president statutory authority to regulate spending by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction in a foreign country during a national emergency or time of war.
The president can use this authority to regulate rules on travel to Cuba in some categories, including academic, religious, family, and journalistic travel. Only Congress can act to restore full travel rights for all Americans to travel to Cuba.
NAFSA, as an organization dedicated to the mission of advancing international education, has focused its advocacy mostly on restrictions on academic travel that were put in place by President Bush in 2004. However, NAFSA also supports legislative efforts to restore the right for all Americans to travel to Cuba, just as they can to any other country in the world. NAFSA Practice Advisory: New Regulations on Academic Travel to Cuba
Additional information on Cuba can be found at the Washington Office on Latin America.
Comments
December 16, 2011
Congress Drops Provisions that would Roll Back Cuban Family Travel and Remittance Regulations from Final Spending Bill
September 21, 2011
NAFSA Signs onto Letter Urging Senate Support for Travel to Cuba
August 8, 2011
NAFSA Signs onto Letter Supporting Administration's Cuba Policy
June 24, 2011
NAFSA Expresses Strong Support For Academic Travel to Cuba
January 29, 2010
Opportunities for U.S.-Cuban Educational Programs and Exchanges
January 2007
NAFSA Endorses Restoring Academic Exchange with Cuba
July 2004
NAFSA Expresses Opposition to New Regulation Restricting Study Abroad in Cuba
Suspended Programs
A 2005 survey of NAFSA study abroad members indicates that 45 institutions have suspended study abroad programs to Cuba since changes to regulations on travel to Cuba were imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
View the institutions reporting program cancellations
