Any help greatly appreciated.

I imagine it will be a lot more difficult for your friend to get a tourist visa from UK immigration than it will be for him to get permission to leave Cuba. You need to explore what the UK requires to issue an entry visa before you even start planning for the Cuban side.

I'm still waiting for the F.O to get back to me. I hadn't thought of the UK Visa, I assumed the Cuban Govt would help him when he applies for his passport. thanks though

I would not count on the Cuban government helping your friend apply for a tourist visa from the UK. The first step in my opinion for your friend is to apply for his passport. He will need that in order to apply for the visa from the UK.

There is no point in applying for the document known as the PVE/exit visa/carta blanca until your friend has a visa allowing him to enter the UK. The PVE simply gives him permission to travel outside Cuba for a set period of time. It is of no value unless he has someplace to go.

zezinho -

The thing you really need to keep clear in your head is that there are TWO 'tracks' or 'bundles of paperwork' or 'processes' going on at once - ENTRY to the UK and EXIT from Cuba. Very confusingly, these two processes intersect at some points, but much less than you would think. (It gets REALLY confusing when both Brits and Cubans refer to a 'letter of invitation', or 'carta de invitacion', which is actually a totally different document with an entirely different status and purpose on EACH side of the tracks.)

Above all - the Foreign Office have absolutely NOTHING to do with it! You've been misinformed!

The order of play should be:
1) Cuban gets their passport. (CUC 55, more for the "express" service - I think about CUC 125??)

2) You, the inviter resident in Britain, fax the INFORMAL ‘letter of invitation’ to the UK Embassy in Havana. When BRITISH Embassy/consulate staff talk about a 'letter of invitation' they are NOT referring to the Cuban 'carta de invitacion' (which is a legal document and a required step in the process which you are charged for.) They mean a simple fax or letter, written and signed by you, where you say "I wish to apply for a fiance visa for Sr(a) xxxx xxxxx xxxxx to enter the UK as a visitor / my fiance / whatever", giving some of their ID details and as much of the 'back story' of your relationship as you can stand to outline on one sheet of A4 paper. Fax this to the embassy in Havana along with evidence of your citizenship, status, address, means and ability to support your visitors etc. (So: bank statements, pay slips, a letter from your employer confirming you work for them, mortgage statements or title deeds) Total cost: almost nil - just the cost of the fax.

3) Cuban pays the interview fee (CUC 114 / UK£63) for an interview at the UK Embassy in Havana. This fee is not refundable - even if they are refused the visa they won't get the money back. They should be able to book for interview within 4 weeks maximum.

4) Cuban goes for interview - **THE MAIN HURDLE YOU MUST MAKE SURE THEY ARE WELL PREPARED for this interview or it will be an automatic refusal: they must have a CLEAR idea of what they will do in the UK, how they will spend their days, some idea of where/ how you live, some interest in the country, a coherent account of your relationship.

It will HELP if they are educated, have no criminal record, speak some English, if your relationship is long-standing (they should bring letters and/or photos), if they have ownership of a house, if they have travelled outside Cuba before and returned, or are leaving child(ren)behind in Cuba. It will HURT if they are poor, black, illiterate, unemployed, or have a record of criminal or political problems in Cuba. I HAVE TO EMPHASISE HERE THAT THE UK EMBASSY IN CUBA , LIKE THE SPANISH OR CANADIAN OR ITALIAN EMBASSY THERE, REFUSES A MAJORITY OF APPLICATIONS FOR SIMPLE VISITORS' VISAS, although it IS still possible for some to get through the net. I know several Cubans in London who have arrived on a visit - some stayed on (defected) and have remained illegal, some went back. So it can be done.

5) The visa application will be accepted or refused. If it’s refused: give it a few months and start again from step 1), and you should also contact the British Consul in Havana to explain the situation and attempt to sort it out. Several people I know had to apply multiple times – the Brits caved in in the end. If it’s accepted: proceed to step 6.

6) Now the Cuban traveller will need a CUBAN ‘carta de invitacion’. This is a formal, legal document and the rules about how to obtain it have changed recently. It is complicated: CONSULT THIS PAGE OF THE CUBAN EMBASSY IN LONDON for the full rules:
http://www.cubaldn.com, follow the link to "Consular Services" and you will find the full rundown of costs and necessary bits of paper.

As far as I know, you have to prepare a sworn affadavit and have it legalised with a UK notary and the FCO, then take it to the Cuban Embassy, who legalise it as well, charge you a fee, (£115) and pass on the details to Cuban immigration control authorities. (* One extra wrinkle is that you either have to prepare the affadavit in Spanish in the first place, or if not, have a translation prepared, which ALSO has to be legalised by the notary, the FCO and the Cuban consulate, with extra costs every step of the way.) This step is the first towards getting the document known by Cubans as the 'carta blanca' - properly speaking it's called the PVE, Permiso de Viaje al Exterior, "permission to travel overseas"

7) FROM HERE ON IN IT’S THE CUBANS' RESPONSIBILITY – you just have to keep on coughing up the cash. They need to obtain: a Cuban ‘exit visa’ (the Carta Blanca), which costs around 150CUC I think, which implies a background check, a clear criminal record etc, and a letter from their employer or place of study authorising them to be absent for x months. They may also have to show an airline ticket, (although the Cuban authorities will often accept just a slip showing a ticket has been reserved - service available for CUC 1-5 from Cubana - even though the full ticket has not yet been paid for.)

8) once all the red tape's done: buy the Cuban a return ticket, and cross your fingers they won't actually defect and overstay in the UK, as this will seriously impact your ability to invite any further non-EU citizens to the UK for a visit in the future.

To keep your head clear:
A) NUMBER ONE PRIORITY is getting entry visa to the UK. This is very, very hard for young, unmarried Cubans on a 'visitor' basis. A spousal visa for entry to the UK is conceded to nearly all (but not 100%) Cubans already married to their Brit - but even there the UK Embassy may decide to cut up rough and insist, for instance, on more proof that the relationship is genuine.

B) You will have to fork out the $55 for the passport first, because you need to enter a passport number on the UK visa application form. But don't even THINK about paying the fees for the Cuban 'carta de invitacion' or the 'carta blanca' before you have got the UK entry visa granted. And similarly - don't even think about buying a plane ticket (except a totally flexible one, which will be VERY expensive) before you have the paperwork nailed down.

C) Total time frame and cost? Visitors’ applications will certainly take AT LEAST 2 months - depending how organised and competent the Cubans are in sorting out paperwork. And between one thing and another, given the cost of calling and faxing Cuba and the need to exchange details, and the cost of the air ticket, you are looking at spending £600 - £1000 for the whole thing.

D) Absolutely everything will become massively more difficult if the Cuban you are inviting lives outside Havana, as all of the procedures have to go through Havana, the UK Embassy is there, and the would-be Cuban traveller is going to be doing a lot of commuting to the city.

I cannot stress strongly enough that it is getting the UK entry visa which should be your primary worry.

Good luck to you and send me a private message if you want any clarification.

viajeraUK; This is VERY easy to follow, and totally accurate as I know the process involving Canada. As far as Canada goes, approval at the Canadian interview stage is, as you indicate with the U.K., very hard. There is no way to determine what the result of the interview will be, as it often depends on govermental relations that most people are not ever aware of. However, ALL the points you make about preparing for the interview are good. Some examples that I am aware of---now this is Canada--but sounds very similar. In the last few days, (May 22nd), 28 turned down--3 accepted. A number of years ago, in 2001, EVERYONE was turned down for weeks at a time. Generally, the reasons most often cited are: no employment : no property (in other words--no reason to return). There are other reasons such as no children, not knowing the invitee long enough, etc., but most Cubans have problems with not owning property, and having jobs. Also, as mentioned, travelling once or twice, and returning is no guarantee of acceptance another time. Good luck, ZEZ, it won't be easy.

viajera

Kudos for a very well written explanation of the process.

I echo what Gray says; and to Jose: if that doesn't scare you off, at least you know what to expect. I invited my girl in 2002. Don't know why to this day but they gave her the visa.....don't know about the UK, but when and if you get a canadian visa, you must land in Canada within 60 days or start the whole process over again.....this urgency will know doubt lead to greasing a few palms in Cuba to speed up the process for the Carta de Invitacion and PVE. The new method of doing the cuban Carta is more complicated and takes longer than previously I'm sure to the point that you might want to find out how long it will take and if UK visas have an expiry date. It would be a shame if you got the visa then ran out of time getting the Carta de Invitacion and PVE.
Anyway my girl came to Canada in 2002 and returned to Cuba with me 3 months later. Sometime that summer, I heard that 24 Cubans got visas to go to Toronto to see the Pope.....only 2 returned, the rest defected.....guess what happened to our next 3 applications......turned down....why?....insuficient reasons to return.
As for making sense, few things in bureaucracies make sense whereever they are.

Thanks Viajera and all the rest of the gang.

Interesting when you said

'It will HURT if they are poor, black, illiterate, unemployed, or have a record of criminal or political problems in Cuba'

He is, poor, black, and unemployed.
This are some of the reasons we want to invite him over here to pay back his knidness and give him an opportunity he would never normally have. We lead a fairly privilleged life here in the west and it seems the least we could do!
my friend and I were introduced to him in Havana and he turned out to be a really good friend, he let us stay with him in Havana Vieja, fed us, took us out fishing, showed us round etc etc and
he wasn't gold digging at all, just a geniune bloke please to that we showed an interest in cubans and cuban life as opposed to the majority of tourists who just lie on the beach, drink a mojito and buy a monte cristo before going home!

Seems to be a pretty labourious process, not to mention costly but hey, thats life.

Have any of you actually been succesfull in inviting somebody over here?

Once again, thanks for the interesting and helpful comments. keep them coming

Zezinho.
I can not belive there are people like you, you seems to be a great guy, trying to help people you almost don't know, that's a very nice touch!!!!! I wish you the best and also to your cuban friend, but you must realize it would be a big procedure and nothing easy, but that's waht friends are for!!!! That's cute!!!!
Good to know still exist people like you.
Hugs!
Yuni.