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GENERAL LICENSES TO TRAVEL TO CUBA |
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The Regulations currently contain eight general licenses authorizing
travel-related transactions involving Cuba. General licenses constitute blanket
authorization for those transactions set forth in the relevant regulation. No
further permission from OFAC is required to engage in transactions covered by a
general license. Individuals wishing to engage in the following activities
involving Cuba should first review the general license contained in the
Regulations to determine whether their travel-related transactions are covered
by a general license:
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| 1) Visiting close relatives who are nationals of Cuba or visiting close relatives who are U.S. Government employees assigned to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba (See OFAC Regulations Section I); |
| 2) Official business travel by officials of the U.S. Government, foreign governments, or intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member (See OFAC Regulations Section II); |
| 3) Journalistic activities by persons regularly employed as journalists by a news reporting organization or by persons regularly employed as supporting broadcast or technical personnel (See OFAC Regulations Section III); |
| 4) Professional research conducted by full-time professionals in their professional areas, attendance at certain professional meetings or conferences organized by international professional organizations, or participation in certain telecommunications-related professional meetings (See OFAC Regulations Section IV); |
| 5) Educational activities by faculty, staff, and students of accredited U.S. graduate and undergraduate degree-granting academic institutions (See OFAC Regulations Section V); |
| 6) Religious activities under the auspices of a religious organization located in the United States (See OFAC Regulations Section VI); |
| 7) The commercial marketing, sales negotiation, accompanied delivery, or servicing in Cuba of telecommunications-related items that have been authorized for commercial export or export by employees of, or an entity duly appointed to represent, a telecommunications services provider (See OFAC Regulations Section XII); |
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8) The commercial marketing, sales negotiation,
accompanied delivery, or servicing in Cuba of agricultural
commodities, medicine, or medical devices by employees of a producer or
distributor or an entity duly appointed to represent a producer or distributor (See
OFAC Regulations Section XII). |
| REVISED 6 - April 19, 2011 |
| Specific licenses are not issued for transactions that are authorized pursuant to the provisions of a general license. See 31 C.F.R. § 501.801(a). Those individuals who determine that their activities are authorized by a general license must be able to document that their travel qualifies under that general license and must keep records that are required to be furnished to OFAC or other law enforcement officials (e.g., U.S. Customs and Border Protection) upon demand for a period of five years after the travel transactions take place. See 31 C.F.R. §§ 501.601, 501.602. |
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PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH. OFAC Regulations - General license for certain professional research and attendance at certain meetings or conferences |
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Section 515.564(a) sets forth certain travel-related and additional transactions that are directly incident to full-time professionals conducting professional research in Cuba, attending certain international professional organization meetings or conferences in Cuba, and attending certain professional meetings related to the provision of telecommunications services. Research requires a full work schedule of noncommercial, academic research that has a substantial likelihood of public dissemination and is in the traveler’s professional area. International professional organization meetings or conferences must be organized by an international professional organization, institution, or association headquartered outside the United States (unless licensed by OFAC) that regularly sponsors meetings or conferences in other countries. A professional organization headquartered in the United States cannot organize or hold a meeting or conference in Cuba without a specific license issued by OFAC. In addition, the meetings or conferences may not be for the purpose of promoting tourism in Cuba or other commercial activities involving Cuba that are normally not licensable under current U.S. policy and may not be intended primarily for the purpose of fostering production of any biotechnological products. Professional telecommunications-related meetings must be for the commercial marketing of, sales negotiation for, or performance under contracts for the provision of telecommunications services, or the establishment of facilities to provide telecommunications services, that are authorized by paragraphs (b), (c), or (d)(1) of section 515.542. Please review section 515.564(a) of the Regulations and section 515.560(c) of the Regulations. For meetings related to the provision of telecommunications-related services, please review sections 515.533(f) and 515.564(a)(3) of the Regulations. General licenses constitute blanket authorization for those transactions set forth in the relevant regulation. For persons satisfying all criteria and conditions in a general license, no further permission from OFAC is required to engage in transactions authorized by that general license. Each person engaging in transactions, including travel-related transactions, under a general license must be able to document how he or she qualifies under the general license. Examples: Licensed Example 1: An international professional association of jurists headquartered in England organizes an annual training conference. This year the conference will be held in Cuba. The prior venues for this conference have included locations in Spain, China, and Mexico. The general license is applicable to individuals who are full-time professionals. Example 2: A university professor with a specialty in plant disease wishes to conduct a full-time schedule of non-commercial research in Cuba because his background research indicates that Cuba may have a plant strain that is resistant to disease. He plans to disseminate his findings in scholarly articles. |
| REVISED 17 - April 19, 2011 |
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Example 3: Employees of a telecommunications services provider that is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction wish to travel to Cuba to negotiate a roaming services agreement with a Cuban telecommunications services provider or to establish facilities linking the United States and Cuba. Not licensed Example 1: A company located in Brazil organizes professional conferences to be held in various countries and has organized a conference to be held in Cuba. Although the conference is endorsed by many international professional organizations and associations, the general license for conference attendance does not apply because the organizer of the conference is not an international professional organization, institution, or association. Example 2: A Cuban organization has organized an international conference that is endorsed by several professional organizations in third countries. This conference does not qualify under the general license because it is not organized by an international professional organization, institution, or association that holds conferences in various international locations. Example 3: Employees of a telecommunications services provider that is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction wish to travel to Cuba to negotiate a contract to establish facilities to provide telecommunication services linking third countries and Cuba. |
| EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. OFAC Regulations - General license for certain educational activities of accredited U.S. graduate or undergraduate academic institutions. |
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(a)(1) Participation in a structured educational program in Cuba as part of a course offered for credit by the sponsoring U.S. academic institution; (a)(2) Noncommercial academic research in Cuba specifically related to Cuba and for the purpose of obtaining a graduate degree; (a)(3) Participation in a formal course of study at a Cuban academic institution, provided the formal course of study in Cuba will be accepted for credit toward the student’s graduate or undergraduate degree; (a)(4) Teaching at a Cuban academic institution by an individual regularly employed in a teaching capacity at the sponsoring U.S. academic institution, provided the teaching activities are related to an academic program at the Cuban institution and provided the duration of the teaching will be no shorter than 10 weeks; (a)(5) Sponsorship, including the payment of a stipend or salary, of a Cuban scholar to teach or engage in other scholarly activity at the sponsoring U.S. academic institution; or (a)(6) The organization of, and preparation for, activities described in (a)(1)-(5) above by members of the faculty and staff of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution. General licenses constitute blanket authorization for those transactions set forth in the relevant regulation. For persons satisfying all criteria and conditions in a general license, no further permission from OFAC is required to engage in transactions authorized by that general license. Each person engaging in transactions, including travel-related transactions, under a general license must be able to document how he or she qualifies under the general license. Note: It is a requirement of the general license that travelers to Cuba authorized pursuant to this provision carry letters on official letterhead signed by a designated representative of the sponsoring academic institution (defined as a person designated by the relevant dean or the academic vice president, provost, or president of the institution as the official responsible for overseeing the institution’s Cuba travel program). Please refer to the relevant subsection within section 515.565(a) for more specific information concerning the necessary contents of such letters. In addition, U.S. academic institutions and individual travelers must retain records related to the transactions authorized pursuant to this provision. See 31 C.F.R. §§ 501.601 and 501.602. The general license authorizes all members of the faculty and staff (including but not limited to adjunct faculty and part-time staff) of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution to participate in the activities Revised 21 April 19, 2011 set forth in the general license. A student currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate degree program at any accredited U.S. academic institution is authorized pursuant to the general license to participate in the academic activities in Cuba set forth in the general license through any sponsoring U.S. academic institution, not only through the institution at which the student is pursuing a degree. Full-time professionals who wish to engage in travel-related transactions to conduct professional research or attend professional meetings in Cuba are not authorized by this general license and must qualify under the general license contained in section 515.564(a) or obtain a specific license under section 515.564(b). |
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RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES. OFAC Regulations - General license for religious organizations located in the United States |
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Section 515.566(a) sets forth a transactions that are directly
incident to religious activities in Cuba under the auspices of the organization.
Travel-related transactions pursuant to this general license must be for the purpose
of engaging, while in Cuba, in a full-time program of religious activities.
Activities that are consistent with U.S. foreign policy include,
but are not limited to, attendance at religious services as well as activities
that contribute to the development of a Cuban counterpart’s religious or institutional
development such as ministerial training, education, or licensing; religious school
development; youth outreach; training in or the conducting of marriage seminars;
construction of places of worship or other facilities for full-time use by a Cuban
counterpart; production and distribution of religious materials; assistance in holding
religious services; religious preaching or teaching; and training or assistance
in church administration.
Note: It is a requirement of the general license that travelers to Cuba authorized pursuant to this provision carry letters on official letterhead, signed by a representative of the sponsoring U.S. religious organization designated as the official responsible for overseeing the organization’s Cuba travel program. Please refer to section 515.566(a) for more specific information concerning the necessary contents of such letters. U.S. religious organizations and individual travelers must also retain records related to the travel transactions authorized pursuant to this provision. See 31 C.F.R. §§ 501.601 and 501.602. General licenses constitute blanket authorization for those transactions set forth in the relevant regulation. For persons satisfying all criteria and conditions in a general license, no further permission from OFAC is required to engage in transactions authorized by that general license. Each person engaging in transactions, including travel-related transactions, under a general license must be able to document how he or she qualifies under the general license. For the authorization of remittances to religious organizations in Cuba in support of religious activities see 31 C.F.R. § 515.570(c). Examples: Licensed Example 1: A religious organization wishes to organize a trip to Cuba for its members for the purpose of assisting in restoring a church building and attending services there. Example 2: A religious organization wishes to send its members to Cuba to teach in its Cuban counterpart’s religious school and to transfer funds to its Cuban counterpart. The transfer of funds to a counterpart religious organization in Cuba to support its religious activities is separately authorized pursuant to the general license set forth in section 515.570(c). Example 3: Members of a U.S. ministry wish to attend worship services and ecclesiastical ceremonies in Cuba, meet with congregations to encourage support and growth in the church, and provide consultation and assistance for future church construction. |
| REVISED 27 - April 19, 2011 |
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Not Licensed
Example 1: A U.S. religiously-affiliated college wishes to send a class to Cuba to as part of a course offered at that college. The college’s proposed travel does not fall within the scope of this general license but it may be authorized under the general license at section 515.565(a) of the Regulations. Example 2: An organization that specializes in organizing “heritage tours” for persons of a particular denomination wishes to take interested practitioners of that faith on a trip to Cuba to visit historical sites and museums as well as : Members of a U.S. ministry wish to attend worship services and ecclesiastical ceremonies in Cuba, meet with congregations to encourage support and growth in the church, and provide consultation and assistance for future church construction. Not Licensed r is not a religious organization. Example 4: A medical fellowship wishes to send a group of health care professionals to Cuba to provide medical services to members of a Cuban congregation. The proposed travel does not fall within the scope of the general license inasmuch as the general license authorizes only religious activities and does not authorize the provision of medical services. Other travel licensing policies may separately cover this type of activity. |
| TRAVEL TO CUBA AND PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE GROUPS |
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) is aware of misstatements in the media suggesting that U.S. foreign policy, as implemented by OFAC, now allows for virtually unrestricted group travel to Cuba by persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Although OFAC amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 515 (the “Regulations”), in January 2011 to expand licensing of travel to Cuba for certain specific purposes, the amended Regulations still contain significant travel restrictions. OFAC now specifically licenses organizations that sponsor and organize certain educational exchange programs to promote contact with the Cuban people (“People-to-People Groups”), provided that the requirements set forth in section 515.565(b)(2) of the Regulations and OFAC’s licensing guidelines are met. Anyone interested in traveling to Cuba should review the Regulations and OFAC’s Comprehensive Guidelines for License Applications to Engage in Travel-Related Transactions Involving Cuba (“Application Guidelines”) (available at www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_tr_app.pdf) to determine whether his or her proposed travel related transactions are or could be authorized under this or any other travel license category. As stated in the Application Guidelines, OFAC only licenses People-to-People Groups that certify that all participants will have a full-time schedule of educational exchange activities that will result in meaningful interaction between the travelers and individuals in Cuba. Authorized activities by People-to-People Groups are not “tourist activities” under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, which prohibits OFAC from licensing travel-related transactions for tourist activities. Potential travelers should know that a People-to-People Group licensed by OFAC will possess and is required to make available to its participants information concerning its specific license. A People-to-People Group using another entity to make its travel arrangements may only use an OFAC-authorized Travel Service Provider (listed at http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_tsp.pdf) or an entity outside the United States that is not subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Travel agents and tour operators in the United States that do not hold an OFAC Travel Service Provider authorization cannot organize trips, collect funds, make travel arrangements, or engage in any other Cuba travel-related transactions for People-to-People Groups or any other licensed travelers. Authorized travelers to Cuba are subject to daily spending limits and are prohibited from bringing any Cuban “souvenirs” or other goods into the United States, with the exception of information and informational materials. Civil and criminal penalties may result from a violation of the Regulations. For additional information about OFAC sanctions involving Cuba, you may contact: OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL U.S. Department of the Treasury Washington, D.C. 202/622-2490 Miami, FL 786/845-2828 (Travel Service Providers) www.treasury.gov/ofac ISSUED: July 25, 2011
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