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The Cuban government officially authorized the use of digitally signed notarial and registry documents for their validity in legal transactions, both national and international.
The measure, published this Thursday in the Official Gazette No. 63, represents a significant step in the digitization of public services and may provide relief for thousands of Cubans living abroad or facing complex legal processes from outside the country.
According to Resolution 284/2025 of the Ministry of Justice, electronic copies signed by notaries and registrars, such as birth, marriage, death, property, inheritance, or criminal record certifications, will hold the same legal validity as paper documents, provided they are properly signed with digital certificates from the National Public Key Infrastructure and contain the digital stamp of the corresponding tax.
“Digital transformation puts online procedures for citizens at the forefront,” stated Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz on his X account (formerly Twitter), as he announced the entry into force of the decree that establishes the Digital Government Center and authorizes the rollout of the new public service platform.
What does this mean for Cubans outside the island?
In practice, the new regulations will allow Cuban citizens to submit certified electronic documents for consular, immigration, judicial, or notarial procedures in other countries, without having to wait weeks for the shipping of printed or apostilled versions from Cuba.
Documents can be validated online using a QR code, case number, and PIN, through the official website of the Ministry of Justice (www.minjus.gob.cu), which streamlines verification and reduces the risks of forgery or loss of physical documents.
For the first time, the digital issuance of certifications from the Civil Registry, such as births or marriages, is officially recognized. Individuals will be able to request them online, even for relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or the second degree of affinity, as well as in other cases where there is a legitimate interest or legal representation.
The articles 140 and 147 of the Civil Registry Regulations were also amended to adapt them to this new digital format.
The provision is part of the initiative for Digital Government in Cuba, under the creation of the new Digital Government Center and the “Soberanía” platform (www.soberania.gob.cu), which will centralize public services and online procedures.
Although it is officially presented as a step forward for administrative efficiency and transparency, for many Cubans this decision could mark a turning point in their relationship with the Cuban State, allowing them to manage key processes from anywhere in the world, including from countries where there are no active embassies or where consular services are overwhelmed.
With more than two million Cubans living outside the island, this measure could shorten distances, reduce costs and waiting times, especially for those who need to resolve inheritance issues, validate studies, manage permits, or initiate immigration processes.
The resolution will come into effect 30 days from its publication, that is, on August 9, 2025.
The change from MINREX to MINJUS
It has only been six months since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) ceased to provide the document legalization service, a function that was transferred to the Ministry of Justice, as stipulated in Agreement 10034 of the Council of Ministers, published in February 2025.
The decision aims to modernize and unify the process, which until that moment had been fragmented and overloaded. The Director of Consular Affairs, Ana Teresita González, explained that the transfer seeks to integrate all phases of the process, from the registration entities to the law firms and consultancies, without affecting the already established services.
This transfer occurred in a context of increasing demand for legalizations, particularly from Cubans seeking to benefit from nationality laws such as the Spanish Law of Democratic Memory, which caused significant delays in processing during 2023.
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