The Cuban regime tightened its control over migratory movements this Tuesday with the entry into force of its new Migration Law, a legal framework that significantly expands the government's powers to restrict both exit from and entry to the country under the pretexts of national security, public order, and state interests.
The regulation was published in the Extraordinary Official Gazette No. 60 and is part of the package of laws on Migration, Immigration, and Citizenship approved by the National Assembly in July 2024.
Among the most significant elements of the new legal framework is the expansion of the reasons for which authorities can prevent Cuban citizens from leaving the country.
The law establishes ten grounds for denying that right: being subject to criminal proceedings, having an outstanding sanction, being under Mandatory Military Service, reasons related to National Security and Defense, financial obligations to the State, and the need to preserve skilled labor or sensitive official information, among others.
This last criterion is particularly concerning, as it places the decision to prevent the departure of professionals deemed strategic in the hands of the authorities, without the need for a direct criminal cause.
In parallel, the regulations expand the powers to control entry into the national territory, with new grounds for inadmissibility that range from backgrounds related to terrorism, drug trafficking, or human trafficking to broader reasons linked to public order or actions deemed hostile against the political system.
The law also includes the possibility of limiting entry into the country even for Cuban citizens in exceptional situations defined by the authorities themselves, introducing an additional element of control over returning to the Island.
In other words, the regime now has a legal framework that justifies allowing or denying entry and exit to Cuba, even for its own citizens, starting this Tuesday.
The new legal framework also consolidates the discretionary power of immigration authorities to authorize, deny, or cancel a person's stay in the national territory, as well as to apply measures such as deportation, expulsion, or reentry bans based on administrative criteria.
These restrictions contrast with some changes introduced by the government as signs of openness, such as the removal of the 24-month limit on stays abroad —in effect since the 2013 reform under Raúl Castro— and the introduction of the effective migratory residence status, which recognizes as residents those who spend more than 180 days a year in Cuba or demonstrate family, employment, or economic ties.
In terms of citizenship, the law incorporates the concept of effective citizenship, which allows Cubans to hold another nationality without losing their Cuban nationality. However, it maintains the obligation to use the Cuban passport within national territory, which in practice limits the full recognition of dual citizenship.
The Official Gazette also includes Decree-Law 117/2026, which establishes a special migratory status for emigrant investors interested in participating in the national economy, with a processing fee of 3,500 Cuban pesos and a resolution period of 30 business days.
However, that openness has been met with marked distrust by the diaspora, given the regime's history of breaches.
The lawyer Laritza Diversent from Cubalex warned that the regime has used criminal law to "confiscate valuable properties": they invite investment, then imprison entrepreneurs and expropriate their businesses.
The nearly two-year delay in publishing the laws in the Official Gazette reinforces the perception that the regime uses migration legislation in a discretionary manner, based on its economic needs and political control, amid the worst economic crisis Cuba has faced since 1959, with a projected GDP decline of 6.5% in 2026 and more than 600,000 Cubans having left the Island since 2022.
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