- Routes
- Citizenship by birth abroad (Art. 34)
- Dual citizenship
- Kept on every open route
The stamps assume no one in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born. What changes each answer is below.
On this page›
- 01Who qualifies
- 02Dates that matter
- 03Mothers’ lines
- 04Keeping your citizenship
- 05The routes and the law
- 06The documents
- 07What it takes
- 08Where the records live
- 09Law changes
- 10Sources
01Who qualifies
Who qualifies, generation by generation
LIKELY
Can you claim Cuban citizenship through a parent?
Citizenship by birth abroad (Art. 34)
A child born abroad to a Cuban parent is Cuban by birth once the birth is registered with a Cuban consulate.
UNLIKELY
Can you claim Cuban citizenship through a grandparent?
Citizenship by birth abroad (Art. 34)
Cuba's constitutional route reaches a child of a Cuban parent, not a grandchild whose own parent never registered as Cuban; that parent's status needs resolving first.
What would settle itWhether your parent can first register as a Cuban citizen by birth or reclaim citizenship — if so, you would then qualify as their child.
UNLIKELY
Can you claim Cuban citizenship through a great-grandparent?
Citizenship by birth abroad (Art. 34)
Cuba's constitutional route reaches a child of a Cuban parent, not a grandchild whose own parent never registered as Cuban; that parent's status needs resolving first.
What would settle itWhether your parent can first register as a Cuban citizen by birth or reclaim citizenship — if so, you would then qualify as their child.
02Dates that matter
The dates that matter
No date named in Cuba’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.
03Mothers’ lines
How mothers’ lines were treated
Cuba’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father. Where its reasons speak of mothers or fathers, they say:
04Keeping your citizenship
Dual citizenship with your home country
You keep your citizenship.
On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.
05The routes
Every route, and the law behind it
Citizenship by birth abroad (Art. 34)
Open through a parent
The law
What would settle an unsure case
- Whether your parent can first register as a Cuban citizen by birth or reclaim citizenship — if so, you would then qualify as their child.
06The documents
The documents, as the rule lists them
Citizenship by birth abroad (Art. 34)
Through a parent
- Your parent’s Cuban birth certificate or citizenship record
- Your foreign birth certificate
- Transcription of your birth into the Cuban Civil Registry, at a Cuban consulate
Most countries also want proof that no one in the line became a citizen elsewhere before the next birth: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter that none exists.
07What it takes
What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides
Citizenship by birth abroad (Art. 34)
- Time
- Up to 90 days for the transcription, the Ministry of Justice's own stated ceiling, then a further wait for the passport.
- Cost
- About $150–400: certified U.S. records, translation into Spanish, and legalisation; the transcription itself carries no fee.
- The hard part
- None if your parent's Cuban birth certificate or citizenship record is in hand; the transcription at the consulate is the process.
- Who decides
- A Cuban consulate for your address.
- The first record
- Your parent’s Cuban birth certificate or citizenship record, from Registro del Estado Civil (Ministry of Justice) / Civil Registry of Acts and Facts of Cubans Abroad. Request transcription of the child's birth at a Cuban consulate for the family's address, with both parents' Cuban and foreign birth certificates. minjus.gob.cu ↗
How it’s filed
- How
- In person; you appear in person
- Fee
- No fee
- Decision
- 4–13 weeks
What goes in the file (3)›
- Your parent's Cuban birth certificate or citizenship record
- Your foreign birth certificate, legalised
- Your parents' marriage or birth certificates, as the consulate asks
What goes wrong (1)›
- The transcription procedure is stated by the Ministry of Justice to carry no service fee.
Checked 26 September 2026 · source ↗
Estimates are honest ranges from official fee tables and what families report; where a fee or time could not be confirmed, it says so.
08Where the records live
Where each record lives, and how to ask for it
birth
Registro del Estado Civil (Ministry of Justice) and the Civil Registry of Acts and Facts of Cubans Abroad
Transcription of the birth is requested at a Cuban consulate for the family's address.
- Takes
- 4–13 weeks
Good to know (1)›
- The Ministry of Justice states requests are processed within 90 days.
Checked 26 September 2026 · source ↗
Translations
- Into
- Spanish
- Who may translate
- Any certified translator
- About
- $20–$50 a page
U.S. birth and marriage records need a certified Spanish translation and legalization for the Cuban consulate.
Checked 26 September 2026 · source ↗
The passport
- Where
- A Cuban consulate for your address, once the transcription is registered.
- Fee
- Not confirmed
- Time
- 4–13 weeks
- Unverified: current passport fee and turnaround for a first application filed abroad.
Checked 26 September 2026 · source ↗
09Law changes
Recent and pending changes
The legislative watch has no pending bill or recent ruling recorded for Cuba.
The watch re-reads the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person re-checks the rule before anything here moves.