How to Travel to Cuba Legally

Despite decades-old US travel restriction to Cuba, the Caribbean island nation is still one of the hottest tourist destinations for Americans. More than 60,000 Americans travel to the island illegally, while 80,000 go legally. Follow these steps to get to America's southern island neighbor without breaking the law.

1 Get a good official reason. The US allows professional journalists and researchers to travel to Cuba without a special license. The reason for travel must be serious and officially condoned by your newspaper and research organization. If you think you qualify for research or journalistic travel to Cuba, check with your company and with the US Treasury Department and State Department.

2 Go to Cuba on the cheap. Actually, to travel legally to Cuba without a license from the government you have to go to Cuba without spending any money at all. Because the US law that forbids Cuban travel is an embargo, the real issue is about money transactions or trade. If you can figure out a way to get to Cuba and stay there without buying or selling anything, then you are free to go.

3 Travel to the island on a "fully hosted" trip. A fully trip is a trip for which all funds originate from within Cuba or from a different foreign country. For example, many Canadian companies organize trips for Americans that pay all expenses from Canada. This allows Americans to travel to Cuba legally because no American money directly reaches Cuban shores.

4 Go to Cuba as part of an educational activity. Many accredited American universities hold specific long-term licenses allowing them to send students and faculty to Cuba for educational purposes. Find a university that holds such a license to travel to Cuba legally.

5 Apply for a government license. The State Department issues a limited number of travel licenses to US citizens for legal travel to Cuba. Similarly, the government licenses a number of American travel agencies to conduct fully-guided tours to the island. While these licensed American tours are more expensive, they originate in the US and will free you from future scrutiny about the legality of your trip.