Cuba's New E-Visa Portal Goes Live at consular.cu After Days of Outage
Updated: 32 minutes ago
HAVANA, 4 November 2026 — Cuba has a new address for electronic visa applications. After the collapse of its eVisaCuba platform left travellers unable to apply for almost a week, the Cuban Ministry of Tourism announced on 4 November that applications should now be submitted through www.consular.cu.
The platform is administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sits within its consular services portal.
What Went Wrong First
The transition was not smooth.
Cuban authorities began migrating the visa system — internally designated Evisa1 — to a new version, Evisa2, from 29 October 2026. The consular platform was scheduled to stop functioning for that period and reopen on 2 November.
It did not. As of 3 November, the old portal remained inaccessible, with no revised reopening date published. Travellers with imminent departures were left without a working application channel.
The new address was announced the following day, alongside confirmation that the underlying system had changed rather than simply been restored.
Three Visa Categories, Not One
The most substantive change is scope.
The old eVisaCuba system was built around tourism. The new platform offers three categories:
Category | Purpose |
Tourist visa | Leisure travel |
Family visa | Visiting relatives in Cuba |
Business exploration visa | Commercial prospecting and exploratory activity |
The three options appear in the application form once the applicant selects their country of submission and the competent Cuban consular representation.
That sequencing matters. The available categories, the fee, and the accepted payment methods are all determined by the consulate handling the file — not by the central platform. A traveller applying through Paris sees different terms from one applying through Ottawa.
The Application Process, Step by Step
The platform operates in Spanish, English and French. From the homepage, users select "Get Started" and then "Apply for your digital visa now."
Step one: verify an email address. The applicant enters a valid address and copies a verification code displayed on screen. A message is sent to that address to unlock the next stage.
Step two: select country and consulate. The applicant chooses the country from which the application is being submitted, then the relevant consular office. Contact details for that representation appear on screen, together with the visa categories on offer, the fee, and accepted payment methods.
Step three: enter traveller details. Nationality, passport number, given names, surname, date of birth and sex are required. A confirmed email address is mandatory; telephone is optional. The platform also requires an image of the passport, uploaded in PNG, JPG or JPEG format.
Step four: add accompanying applicants. Up to nine additional applications can be grouped into a single submission — ten travellers in total. The fee is calculated on the number submitted. This is a practical improvement for families and organised groups, who previously had to file separately.
Step five: review and pay. A summary screen shows the applicant's details, a breakdown of consular fees, and the payment methods offered by the selected consulate.
The Payment Problem
Cuba's portal does not accept online card payment.
This is the feature most likely to frustrate travellers accustomed to paying visa fees by card at the point of application. Instead, the applicant must:
Pay through the method specified by the consulate — for Paris, bank transfer or cheque
Upload proof of payment to the platform
Await processing
The arrangement reflects Cuba's constrained access to international banking. Successive rounds of U.S. economic sanctions have severed relationships between Cuban entities — including some consular representations abroad — and financial institutions. Direct card processing is not available to the platform.
Travellers should therefore build the payment step into their timeline rather than assume it happens instantly.
What It Costs
During testing, selecting the tourist visa at the Cuban consulate in Paris displayed a fee of €30 per application.
Fees vary by consulate and by nationality, and no centralised schedule is published. Applicants should check the figure displayed after selecting their consular representation rather than budgeting from a single quoted price.
A Separate Channel for Travel Agencies
The modernisation extends beyond individual applicants.
The platform includes a dedicated section for travel agencies operating under agreement with Cuban consular representations. That space allows agencies to manage client applications, track case progress, administer payments and handle associated services.
Access is restricted to agencies formally registered and contractually linked to the consulates. Independent operators cannot use it.
For tour operators handling Cuban itineraries at volume, this is a meaningful change — it replaces piecemeal client-by-client submissions with a managed caseload view.
D'Viajeros Is Still Required
The new visa portal does not remove Cuba's other entry formality.
Every traveller must still complete the D'Viajeros declaration, which collects migration, health and customs information ahead of arrival. It is submitted through dviajeros.mitrans.gob.cu.
The declaration is a distinct step from the e-visa. Completing one does not satisfy the other.
Timing guidance varies: Cuban regulations set the window at 72 hours before travel, while some consular sources advise completing it up to seven days in advance. A QR code is generated on submission and must be presented to immigration authorities on arrival.
What Travellers Should Do
Apply earlier than the previous 72-hour assumption. The system has only just stabilised after a week of downtime. Building in additional lead time reduces exposure to further disruption.
Confirm your consulate's payment method before starting. The application cannot be completed without proof of payment, and the accepted methods differ by representation.
Have your passport image ready. PNG, JPG or JPEG. A photograph of the biographical page taken in good light is usually sufficient, but a scan is safer.
Group families into a single submission. The ten-applicant limit reduces administrative burden and produces one fee calculation.
Do not skip D'Viajeros. It is checked separately at the border.
Check the visa verification tool. The portal includes a function to confirm the status and validity of an issued visa — worth using before departure rather than discovering a problem at check-in.
The Broader Picture
Cuba's visa system has been moving towards digitisation for several years, with the electronic tourist visa becoming mandatory from January 2026. The Evisa2 migration is the largest structural change since that rollout.
The expansion to family and business exploration categories is the more consequential element. Tourism was always the easiest case to digitise — a straightforward, high-volume, standardised product. Family visits and business travel involve documentary evidence, varying purposes and consular discretion. Extending the online channel to those categories brings more of the consular workload onto a single platform.
Whether that improves processing times, or simply relocates the queue, will become clear over the coming months. The platform is live; the operational track record is not yet established.
Read Also
Quick Reference Summary
Item | Detail |
New portal | |
Consular services portal | |
Announced | 4 November 2026 |
Migration | Evisa1 to Evisa2, from 29 October 2026 |
Old portal status | Offline since 29 October; reopening missed on 2 November |
Visa categories | Tourist; family; business exploration |
Languages | Spanish, English, French |
Applicants per submission | Up to 10 |
Passport image format | PNG, JPG, JPEG |
Online card payment | Not available |
Payment method | Per consulate; proof uploaded to platform |
Tourist visa fee (Paris) | €30 per application |
Agency section | Restricted to registered, contracted agencies |
D'Viajeros | Still mandatory, separate from visa |
For the latest immigration updates, visit: visasupdate.com/news
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