Emigrating from Cuba to Spain in 2026: citizenship, study, family and work

Your situation	Route	First step
You applied for citizenship under the Democratic Memory Law	Spanish citizenship	Registration at the consular Civil Registry and first passport
Your spouse, partner, parent or child is Spanish	Residence visa for a family member of a Spaniard	Gather proof of the relationship
You were admitted to a school or university in Spain	Study visa	Admission, funds and health insurance
Your foreign relative lives in Spain	Family reunification	Your relative applies for the authorisation in Spain
A Spanish company hires you	Employed work visa	The employer applies for your authorisation in Spain

Sources: the pages of each visa of the Consulate General of Spain in Havana ^{6 4 5} and the Foreign Ministry ⁸.

All of these visas are for stays of more than 90 days. The consulate always makes the decision; the Application Centre only receives applications and returns passports ¹.

The deadline to apply for citizenship under Law 20/2022, known as the Grandchildren's Law, ended in October 2025 ⁸. As of 31 May 2026, the consular network had received 1,225,188 applications filed in person, approved 571,761 files and carried out 333,696 registrations ⁸. The Ministry reinforced the staff of the consulates in Buenos Aires, Mexico and Havana ⁸.

If your file was approved, the order is registration at the consular Civil Registry and then the first passport. On 9 October 2026 the consulate in Havana announced that people registered in its Civil Registry up to 30 June 2026 can book an appointment for their first passport ³.

As a Spaniard you enter and live in Spain without a visa. Your Cuban spouse, partner and children can apply for the family-of-a-Spaniard visa, explained below. The steps after registration are in the guide on the Grandchildren's Law.

Family of a Spaniard. Those who can apply include the spouse, the registered partner or partner with at least 12 months of cohabitation, children under 26 or dependent children, dependent ascendants, and children of a Spanish-born parent ⁶. It is free, the consulate decides it in 15 days and it is valid for 365 days ⁶. The page clarifies that, if you file at an external centre, you pay the fee for that service ⁶, and since 19 October 2026 these visas are filed at the Application Centre ¹. If your Spanish relative lives in Spain, you provide the residence authorisation obtained for you; if both of you are abroad, form EX24 with an address in Spain ⁶. Your relative also signs a declaration that they do not live in Spain with another spouse or partner ⁶.

Family reunification. If your relative is a foreigner living in Spain, they first apply for the reunification authorisation there. For a unit of two people they need income of 150% of the IPREM and 50% more for each additional member ¹⁰: €900 a month for two people with the IPREM of €600 ¹¹. Once the authorisation is granted, you apply for the visa in Havana.

The study visa covers higher education, post-compulsory secondary education, pupil mobility, volunteering and training activities of more than 90 days ⁴. You apply at least two months before the start ⁴.

• Funds: 100% of the IPREM, 75% more for the first family member and 50% for each following one ⁴. The regulation sets that amount for each month of stay ¹⁰: with the IPREM at €600 a month, the student needs €600 per month ¹¹. If accommodation is paid for the whole stay, the amount is lower ⁴.
• Health insurance: with an insurer authorised in Spain, with benefits similar to the basic portfolio of the National Health System and valid for the whole stay ⁴.
• Criminal record: only if the stay exceeds 180 days ⁴.
• Enrolment: proof of admission and payment; payment may not be required if you have a scholarship or an institutional agreement ⁴.

With the favourable stay authorisation, the consulate decides the visa within one month at most ⁴. If your stay exceeds 180 days, you apply for the TIE in the month after you arrive ⁴. If you take higher education you can work up to 30 hours a week ¹⁰.

The page does not explain which proofs of funds it accepts from people who live in Cuba; ask before gathering the documents.

The Spanish company first applies for your initial residence and work authorisation. When it is notified to them, you have one month to apply for the visa ⁵. The consulate has one month to decide it ⁵.

You apply for the visa with your passport, the authorisation signed by the employer, the criminal record certificate for the last five years and a medical certificate, both legalised by MINREX, and proof of residence in the consular district ⁵. The fee is paid on the day of the appointment and is not refunded if the visa is denied ⁵.

On arrival, the employer registers you with Social Security within 3 days, and if the authorisation lasts more than six months you apply for the TIE in the month after registration ⁵.

The new Centre. Since 5 October 2026 visa applications are moving gradually to the Spanish Visa Application Centre in Cuba, at Av. 31 between 18 and 14, house 1419, Miramar, Playa, at a cost of €17 ¹. The calendar was ¹:

Date	Visas that move to the Centre
5 October 2026	Schengen and collection of passports and decisions
12 October 2026	National visas: study, work, highly qualified, non-lucrative and others
19 October 2026	Family members of Spaniards and of citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland

Reassignment of appointments. On 29 October 2026 the consulate announced that it is reassigning appointments with specific dates and times, in order of application in the previous system. They only serve people who appear on the Centre's lists with a date and time; emails with a margin of several days are no longer valid ².

The previous system. The pages of each visa still describe registration by email to cog.lahabana.citavisados@maec.es, with a code for each type of visa (SLU for study, RFX for family of a Spaniard, TRA for work), a file of 1 MB at most and the rule of not resending before 14 days ^{4 6 5}.

Intermediaries. The consulate warns that any offer of a direct deal to get an appointment is fraudulent and that paying third parties for a free service can get you fake bookings ¹.

Legalisation. Cuba is not in the table of States of the Apostille Convention ⁹, so your documents are legalised. The work visa page asks for criminal record and medical certificate legalised by MINREX, and the family-of-a-Spaniard page mentions legalisation by MINJUS and, in some cases, by the consulate ^{5 6}. Check the page of your visa before legalising.