For a general description of the legal formalities required in 1993 for acquisition of Cuban citizenship by a child born to a Cuban national outside Cuba, further to Article 29(c) of the Cuban Constitution, please refer to Response to Information Request CUB14030 of 17 June 1993. The information provided by Cuban authorities in that Response includes references to cases in which children were registered at birth with Cuban authorities; it also mentions an age limit for claiming Cuban citizenship if a child was not registered with Cuban authorities at birth and outlines the possibility of acquiring Cuban citizenship if a person was not registered and did not claim Cuban citizenship at the time he or she reached the age of majority.

The information that follows was provided by an official at the Consulate of Cuba in Montreal during an 18 August 1995 telephone interview with the DIRB.

Cuba enacted a new Constitution in 1992, and constitutional amendments concerning citizenship were enacted in 1994. The constitutional provisions on entitlement to, or acquisition of, Cuban citizenship by birth remain largely unchanged from previous constitutions. However, the new constitutional provisions allow dual citizenship. Only in extreme and unusual cases would Cuban authorities deprive a Cuban citizen of his or her Cuban citizenship, and this would not occur simply because of the acquisition of a foreign passport as a child. Many people who are Cuban by birth who have acquired foreign citizenship and passports as minors, as is the case of many Cubans who have become Canadian citizens and reside in Canada, continue to hold Cuban citizenship.

Although Cubans who acquire a foreign passport and/or citizenship do not lose their Cuban citizenship, they require a valid passport and a valid return or entry permit to enter or return to Cuba, like any other Cuban. Cubans who left the country before 1970 can re-enter or return to Cuba with a foreign passport, but Cubans who left after 1970 must hold a valid Cuban passport to return to the island. Please refer to Response to Information Request CUB21136.E for information on issuing and renewal of Cuban passports for Cubans abroad.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Consulate of Cuba, Montreal. 18 August 1995. Telephone interview with official.