Travel to Cuba

United States policy limiting travel to Cuba is enforced primarily through regulations issued by the United States Department of the Treasury forbidding U.S. residents to engage in financial transactions there. However, federal law does permit some transactions conducted for educational purposes, and it permits educational institutions to apply for a license that facilitates educational travel to Cuba for students and faculty members. Yale has held a license for educational travel to Cuba since 1999. In addition, federal law permits full-time professionals, including educators, to spend money in Cuba to conduct research and attend conferences.

Under Yale’s institutional license, Yale students and faculty members may spend money in Cuba for the following purposes:

• Participation in a structured educational program in Cuba as part of a graduate or undergraduate course, provided the program in Cuba is no less than 10 weeks long. Yale College students may use this provision to conduct research for their senior essays and other independent courses, so long as the research will result in credit toward their Yale degrees.
• Research in Cuba for the purpose of obtaining a Yale graduate degree.
• Participation in a formal course of study at a Cuban academic institution, provided the course will be accepted for credit toward a Yale degree and is no less than 10 weeks long.
• Teaching at a Cuban academic institution by a person regularly employed as a teacher at Yale, provided the teaching is related to an academic program at the Cuban institution and will continue for at least 10 weeks.
• Sponsorship of a Cuban scholar to teach or engage in other scholarly activities at Yale.
• Arranging any of the activities listed above, provided the person carrying out this task is a permanent, full-time Yale employee.

Students and faculty members interested in traveling to Cuba under Yale’s license must contact the OGC at 432-4949. Additional information on federal regulations regarding travel to Cuba can be found here.

Faculty members and other professionals may spend money in Cuba to conduct professional research or attend professional meetings, so long as the research or meetings meet certain criteria. Travel for these purposes does not require use of the Yale license, but advice is available from the OGC at 432-4949.