Fees for birth, marriage, death, and criminal-record certificates also increase.
14ymedio, Havana, September 24, 2026 – Cubans residing abroad will have to pay more for their passports, for several of the documents most commonly requested to emigrate, to validate studies, and to carry out family-related procedures. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Resolution 37/2026, updating the consular fee schedule, will take effect on October 1.
The passport for those over 16 will increase from 180 to 200 dollars or euros, while the price for minors will rise from 140 to 160. These prices had been in effect since 2023 under a previous resolution that lowered the price of the document at consulates and extended its validity from six to ten years for adults, in addition to eliminating the old two-year extensions.
The new fee schedule sets charges in euros for countries that use this currency and takes the dollar as the reference in other territories, with the possibility of charging the equivalent in local currency.
The Foreign Ministry justified the increase by citing the “complex international macroeconomic landscape” and “sustained global inflation,” and said that the update will make it possible to improve the “quality, security, and efficiency” of consular services.
Although the update does not affect the price of passports issued in Cuba, which remains at 2,500 pesos, procedures within the Island are far from simple
The increase will be more pronounced for Civil Registry certificates. Birth, marriage, common-law union, death, criminal-record, divorce, last-will, declaration of heirs, and single-status documents will cost 110 dollars or euros, to which another 30 will have to be added for the application.
For those who pay in euros, for example, obtaining one of these certificates had until now cost 100 euros: 25 to request it and 75 for its issuance. Starting in October, it will cost 140, a 40% increase, not including possible legalizations. In the other countries, the previous fee varied: issuance cost 80 dollars, and in the United States 100 dollars.
Although the update does not affect the price of passports issued in Cuba, which remains at 2,500 pesos according to Annex 4 of Law 113 of the Tax System, modified by Decree-Law 21/2020 and still in force, procedures within the Island are far from simple.
Long waits at Civil Registry offices to obtain birth, marriage, and death certificates have worsened with the increase in requests related to emigration. In 2023, the Ministry of Justice itself acknowledged a “notable increase” in requests for criminal-record certificates, which are required by numerous consulates to issue visas.
The graduate certificate and certificate of a valid, non-invalidated degree will increase from 185 to 240 euros, plus the 30-euro application fee
Academic documents are also becoming more expensive. For those who process them in euros, transcripts, study programs, and subject plans will increase from 225 to 290 euros, while the application fee will rise from 25 to 30. The combined cost thus increases from 250 to 320 euros, before legalizations. The graduate certificate and certificate of a valid, non-invalidated degree will increase from 185 to 240 euros, plus the 30-euro application fee.
Other procedures may be added to those amounts. The legalization of teaching documents in those countries will increase from 95 to 110 euros, legalization at a foreign embassy in Havana will rise from 55 to 70, and legalization, now handled by Cuba’s Ministry of Justice, will increase from 35 to 50 euros.
The increase in the price of the Cuban passport comes after confusion generated at the beginning of this year by reports that put the price at 234 dollars. The Foreign Ministry then denied that the consular fee schedule had been changed. That figure corresponded to another legal service associated with obtaining the document and not to the price charged directly by consulates.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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