Internal documents from the Embassy in Washington reveal revenues of more than $270 million between 2019 and 2025
14ymedio, Havana, September 26, 2026 /Cuban consular services in the United States have for years functioned as an extraordinary source of foreign currency for the Havana Government. An investigation published this Friday by El Toque, based on thousands of leaked internal documents from the Cuban Embassy in Washington, reveals that the diplomatic mission collected more than $270 million between 2019 and 2025, a figure that could be even higher because the records obtained are incomplete.
The investigation, by journalist Ernesto Eimil, draws on 4,713 files from the institutional email accounts of the ambassador, the consul and an administrative assistant. El Toque obtained the documents at the end of 2025 through a collaboration with Systema, the investigative unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and says it verified and cross-checked them before publishing them.
More than the amounts collected, the documents show that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs set specific financial targets for its consular services. In 2019, for example, the target set for the Embassy in Washington was close to $96 million. By July of that year, approximately 67% of the plan had already been met.
In the first seven months of 2019 alone, according to the records analyzed, the Consulate processed 64,480 passport applications, which then cost $350, and 86,104 extensions, at $160 each
The money came mainly from issuing passports, legalizations and notarial procedures, and the sale of tourist cards. Until July 2023, fees were also charged for the mandatory extensions of the Cuban passport.
In the first seven months of 2019 alone, according to the records analyzed, the Consulate processed 64,480 passport applications, which then cost $350, and 86,104 extensions, at $160 each. On top of this came 486,965 tourist cards sold at $50. Those three items alone accounted for around $60.7 million.
The pandemic caused travel to plummet, but did not completely dry up the source of income. In 2021, up to July 30, the Cuban mission had brought in $27.1 million, 63.12% of its annual plan. According to the documents cited by El Toque, that year Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez congratulated the consular staff for “overfulfilling the established plan.”
With the recovery of travel, the money came back too. By September 2022, the Embassy had collected $52.2 million, 121.49% of the target set for the entire year. In the same period of 2023 it had taken in $44.9 million, although in that case it had reached only 72.42% of what was planned.
In 2023 the Government lowered the price of the passport abroad, extended its validity from six to ten years for those over 16 and eliminated the extensions every two years
The migration reform of July 2023 later reduced a significant part of that income. The Government lowered the price of the passport abroad, extended its validity from six to ten years for those over 16 and eliminated the extensions every two years. As a result, Washington’s revenue plan fell to $36 million in 2024 and to $30 million in 2025.
Even that more modest target makes it possible to gauge the economic weight of the consular services. Another of the leaked documents puts the total budget of the Cuban Embassy in Washington for 2025 at $2,442,423. Of that amount, a maximum of $468,025 was earmarked for salaries and just over a million for renting housing for its officials. In January, about 50 people worked there.
The consular revenue target for that same year – $30 million – was therefore equivalent to more than 12 times the entire budget of the diplomatic mission. The comparison does not make it possible to establish the net profit obtained by the Cuban State, since all the costs associated with providing these services are unknown, but it shows the enormous gap between the volume of revenue and the mission’s budgeted expenses.
Starting this coming October 1, the passport for those over 16 will rise – once again – from 180 to 200 dollars or euros, while that for minors will go up from 140 to 160
The publication of the documents also coincides with a new increase in consular fees. Starting this coming October 1, the passport for those over 16 will go from 180 to 200 dollars or euros, while that for minors will rise from 140 to 160. Civil Registry certifications, academic documents, legalizations and numerous legal procedures will also go up.
The Foreign Ministry justified the price increase by citing the “complex international macroeconomic outlook” and “sustained global inflation,” and claimed that the new prices will make it possible to improve the quality, security and efficiency of the services.
If a single diplomatic mission, the one in Washington, was able to gather more than $270 million in seven years, the question the files leave open is much bigger: how much money the entire network of consular services really contributes to the Cuban State, and what it ends up being spent on.
Translated by GH
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