The Official Gazette of Cuba published today the laws on Migration, Citizenship, and Foreign Affairs approved by the National Assembly in July 2024, along with their regulations. One of the most significant elements of the new regulatory framework is the legal formalization of the Migration Police as a specialized law enforcement agency with jurisdiction throughout the national territory.
The three laws —approved on July 19, 2024, but unpublished until today— were published in the Official Gazette No. 39 along with Decrees 136 and 137 of 2025, which regulate them, and Resolution 24/2025 from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT).
Title XI of Law 171/2024 on Migration expressly recognizes the Migration Police as a service of the Directorate of Identification, Migration, Foreign Affairs, and Citizenship (DIMEC) of MININT, with functions that go far beyond border control.
According to Article 139 of the law, the body has "preventive functions, care for migrants, protection of their rights, social discipline and public order, as well as contributing to ensuring the enforcement of resolutions and decisions of the courts of justice and the immigration authorities in relation to foreigners."
The regulations, outlined in Decree 136/2025, specify that the Migration Police has national jurisdiction and can operate in hotels, workplaces, rental properties, public events, public thoroughfares, airports, ports, and highways, not just at borders.
Article 331 of Decree 136/2025 states that the body "may request identification documents from individuals anywhere within the national territory."
One of the most striking aspects is the reach over Cuban citizens. Article 139.4 of the law empowers the Migration Police to "secure, detain, transport, and take statements from Cuban citizens who participate, together with foreigners, in the commission of infringing acts" or who may provide testimony.
The regulations also specify that the body wears its own uniform, carries firearms and handcuffs, and that their vehicles display the DIMEC logo with the designation "Migration Police."
The term "Migration Police" was already mentioned in the bill approved in July 2024, with an article 139 nearly identical to the one published today.
What has changed is that it has ceased to be a project and has been published as law in the Official Gazette, alongside its regulations, which specify expanded functions that did not exist in the previous legislation.
The legislation being repealed —Law 1312 on Migration from 1976 and its amendments— recognized the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Foreign Affairs and "immigration officials," but did not define a specialized police force by that name or with authority throughout the territory.
The new regulatory framework also introduces other significant changes: it removes the 24-month limit for staying abroad that automatically classified Cubans as "emigrants," creates the concept of Effective Migratory Residence, and establishes effective citizenship, which allows for holding another citizenship without losing Cuban citizenship.
At the same time, the law consolidates a broad system of state control, with multiple grounds for prohibiting Cubans from leaving the country—including the preservation of "skilled labor" and the protection of "official information"—as well as grounds for inadmissibility that include actions against the Cuban political system.
The laws were approved by the Cuban parliament almost two years ago but remained unpublished, which led to unusual situations such as the need to create an urgent decree-law in March 2026 to enable the migratory status of Investors and Businesses for the Cuban diaspora.
The regulations will take effect 180 days after their publication in the Official Gazette, which places the effective date around November 2026. During this period, MININT must adapt its systems and structures to comply with the new regulations.
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