Key Aspects:
- A Cuban woman who previously worked aboard a cruise ship says she was barred from returning to Cuba for five years after remaining abroad.
- The woman says Cuban immigration authorities linked the penalty to rules governing citizens working aboard international vessels, though the specific regulation has not been identified.
- She says she had been abroad for roughly 18 months when she attempted to return in 2019, shorter than Cuba’s then-standard 24-month limit for citizens living overseas.
A former cruise ship worker from Cuba says she was prevented from returning to her home country for five years after remaining overseas following the end of her initial work contract. The woman, who goes by Una Cubana en Malta (A Cuban Woman in Malta) online, shared her full story in a video posted to Facebook.
She was working onboard a cruise ship and living in Malta when she says she unknowingly violated Cuban rules for citizens working aboard international vessels. In October 2019, she attempted to return to Cuba after a year-and-a-half abroad.
Attempting to board a connecting flight from Paris to Havana, she was stopped and told she would not be allowed to board the flight. Her mother then contacted Cuban immigration to try and figure out what was happening.
It was then that she learned that she had been barred from re-entering the country for five years. She was stunned to have the ban imposed upon her.
“It wasn’t new to me. I’d heard of it happening to other people, but I never thought it would happen to me,” she said (translated from Spanish). “I didn’t leave with the intention of staying. I never wanted to leave Cuba that way.”
She remained living in Malta after being unable to return. She did not say whether she has been back to Cuba since the five-year restriction elapsed.
Recent photos and videos shared on her social media pages appear to have been taken aboard MSC Splendida. However, the Fantasia-class ship was redeployed to the Chinese market at the time the ban was imposed. The woman did not specify which cruise line or specific ship she was contracted on prior to the ban.
Reason For The Five-Year Ban Remains Unclear
At first glance, the length of her stay abroad does not appear to explain the penalty. At the time, Cuban citizens generally risked losing domestic resident rights after remaining outside the country for more than 24 months.
The woman says she had been abroad for approximately 18 months when she attempted to return in October 2019. Instead, she says immigration officials attributed the restriction specifically to rules governing workers aboard ships.
“What Immigration is saying is it’s because I supposedly didn’t comply with a law regarding ship workers,” she said (translated from Spanish).
She further claimed that, while she had finished her initial work contract, she was not required to immediately return to Cuba. Immigration authorities in Cuba have not publicly commented on her case. A complete copy of the document detailing the five-year restriction has also not been made public.
Cuba has since overhauled its immigration laws. The new Migration Law, published in the Official Gazette in May 2026 and due to take effect in late 2026, scraps the 24-month limit and replaces it with an “effective migratory residency” test. Those changes came years after her attempted return.
