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Me and my girlfriend would like to go to Cuba from Denmark. We would like to go to Miami for a few days before going to Cuba and then spend the rest of the vacation in Cuba. So our flights are as follows:

Denmark-Miami

Miami-Havana

Havana-Denmark

My question is, if this is legal? I have read something about new regulation and that you can not go to Cuba from the USA as a tourist. But it is not easy to figure out, so du any of you know the answer to this?

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  • It used to be that you couldn't book flights from the US unless you were in a tour group or had some other connection, and there were very few flights. Not sure how this has changed (and then changed back maybe).
    – Tomas By
    Oct 30 '18 at 22:06
  • @Giorgio: I'm not sure it would be worth it to pay an American travel agency to have them pretend you have official justification for your trip to Cuba if you are just passing through, like the OP here.
    – Tomas By
    Oct 31 '18 at 10:15
  • @TomasBy The asker isn't "just passing through": they intend to "spend the rest of the vacation in Cuba." Cuba is a primary destination of their intended trip.
    – David Richerby
    Oct 31 '18 at 12:58
  • @DavidRicherby: "passing through the U.S."
    – Tomas By
    Oct 31 '18 at 13:20
  • @TomasBy OK, I see your point. Still, the asker wants to spend a few days in Miami. To me, "passing through" suggests maybe a little more than just changing planes but more like "I arrive on Saturday morning and the next flight out isn't until Sunday evening, so I may as well see some of the sights."
    – David Richerby
    Oct 31 '18 at 13:22
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It seems that nothing has changed.

Travel to Cuba is regulated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Anyone located in the United States, regardless of citizenship and nationality, must comply with these regulations. [...] Travelers who fail to comply with regulations may face penalties and criminal prosecution.

and

Is travel to Cuba for tourist activities permitted?

No. Consistent with the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (TSRA), travel-related transactions involving Cuba are only permitted for the 12 categories of activities identified in the CACR. Travel-related transactions for other purposes remain prohibited.

So you need to go (for example) Miami-Cancun and Cancun-Havana instead.

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    Officially nothing has changed, but it used to be very easy to argue yourself into one of the 12 categories. From hearsay, I understood that this is not as simple anymore, but can still be done.
    – pfnuesel
    Oct 31 '18 at 6:53
  • @pfnuesel: that makes sense.
    – Tomas By
    Oct 31 '18 at 10:13

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