Gricel Y Arturo

My husband might need to ship me some documents from Havana to the US. Has anyone used DHL from Havana before. I hear they have an office at Avenida 1ra y 26, Miramar Playa, HAVANA CITY, 10600

Phone: 537-646-4611. Thinking about having Mitch call them and get the details on shipping/cost but thought I'd check here to see if anyone can provide some feedback.

Thanks!

Calygirl- Caribe Express in Miami has been great for me on anything going to Habana. $15 for almost anything you can fit in an envelope and they get it within a week. Best of all (they say) that neither US or Cuban customs goes through any of the mail. So, that gets my vote and they are with the program.

Good luck maifren!!

did she go to the interview alone or did you go with her?

Tila_Vida- I think that those are situations that are handled on a case by case basis depending on how skilled and how high profile your fiance is. Just hope for the best and learn from others before you and I am sure everything will work out fine.

I'm not an immigration attorney but that advice doesn't make sense. The K-3 marriage visa is gone. Now you file a K-1 visa whether you're engaged or married. If your K-1 visa was rejected once, why would a second K-1 visa get accepted?

The obvious question is, why was your K-1 visa rejected?

No, you are totally incorrect. You do not file a K-1 if you already married, that is fraud. A K-1 is a Fiance Visa and a CR-1 is a Spouse Visa.

The Op said he filed a K-1 Visa and for whatever reason it failed which is really none of our business why it was rejected.

He stated that he is now planning on marrying his fiance in Cuba which is the only thing left for him to do legally and file for the CR-1 after he has obtained a marriage certificate.

Well this was pretty much my project this week and I will share with others what I have found even though I am sure the same info exists somewhere on VJ.

Calygirl is correct, the "Long Form Birth Certificate" is the bullet proof document instead of the short form. We are talking about Cuba here where a Cuban citizen does not have to have near the documentation (of course) that the USC would need to marry. So, if you want to avoid problems, order the long form and make sure that it is notarized from the Vital Records department of the state that you live in. -They usually do this when they issue it anyway but you need to ask and make sure.

The Single status certificate is one that does not really exist in the United states. In Florida, this can be obtained by contacting the Vital records office in Jacksonville, do a range of years to search (18-Present Age) and you can specify on the document that it is for the purpose of Single Status for the state in which you live in. In a country as big as ours, a document such as this does not really accomplish anything as you could be married in another state and of course, that would not be found. But you have to provide one, no big deal.

What Calygirl did next was to take her Vital Records single status search results and then have an "Apostille Certification" done by the Florida Secretary of State's office. This is also overkill and bulletproof and is smart to do IMHO because we do not have an official "Single Status Certificate" in the US. Cuba is not a member of the Hague convention and does not recognize the Apostille Certification from anyplace. It is a "Non-Apostille Country".

And this is the reason why: They want you to send your documents to THEM either in Washington DC or Habana and have your documents "Certified" by the Cuban government. This allows them to collect the incredible amount of revenue that they can extract from you because you are now playing their game. $140 per page.

Here is what I found and what it cost me and the order I did it in:

Long Form Birth Certficate from Vital Records in your birth state $15

Single Status search from Vital Records in your state of residence $55

Apostille the Single Status $10

Translate Documents from English to Spanish $40

Notarize the Translation of the above Documents

Total $120

Send documents to Cuban Interests Section in Washington DC. Certified Mail $20

Birth Certificate English Certification $140

Birth Certificate Translated to Spanish Certification $140

Single Status English Certification $140

Single Status Translated to Spanish Certification $140

Shipping/Postage?Processing of Documents back to you $20

Wait 4-6 Weeks

Total $600

In Cuba:

Aifare from Miami $400

Tourist Card $50

Spouse Single Status Certificate $75

Cuban Marriage Certificate $600

Total $1225

Somewhat Total $1945

Are you ready?

Hi. We opted to get married in Havana. I'm a USC and my husband is a Cuban National. In order to get married on the Island, I requested a birth certificate from the county in which I was born (long version). Since I reside in Florida and have never married up until now, I requested the office of Tallahassee check all county records to confirm that there are no records of a marriage. Once I received this official vital record back from the State of FL - indicating there were no records found, I went here: http://www.nass.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=262&Itemid=484

Use this link to select the State you are in. It will instruct you on how you can authenticate the Single Status vital record. You don't need to authenticate your US birth certificate. Once you get this back (each state has their own turn around times). In order for these two documents to be used in Cuba they have to also be authenticated by the Cuban Interst Seciton in Washington. I have another thread that I started on this same forum that goes into detail about that process and the cost. Just remember that you need to have those sent into DC within 6 months of the state issuing you these documents. Per the Cuban Interest Section. Argh! Once you have these sent back to you, then you can use them in Cuba to marry there. Hope this helps.

Calygirl, I am in the middle of doing all this now. Do you really need the long form on the birth certificate? I never thought of that since I am not running for president........thats an excellent link by the way. I am still going to send my stuff out and try and get it done there at reduced cost. Worse comes to worse, just start over here and send them to DC.

It was no worry at all because it was a direct trip but they were very sneaky about it and I didnt even realize until I got back that they had done it, out it in the middle of a bunch of other stamps......

ja ja...I liked the night club. When did you go, and from where?

Miami/Habana direct through a charter......that plane sucked also!

february

Yes, Habana this time but usually Santiago......they stamped me in and out and I was so very not happy about that as they just do it, BAM!

Yes, the Yak's sucked, loved it when the A/C got turned on and it looked like a night club full of smoke!!!

We recently spent 3 weeks together in Cuba...It was great as usual. I've been there 12-13 times in the last 3 years. My (K-1) wife has her "green card" now, and we are married in USA. I'm only writing this to say AVOID PHOENIX. PHOENIX airport sucks, however we might move there...ja ja. PHOENIX sucks for immigration, and they are RUDE, and disrespectful. We got taken into "the room" at immigration, I had an "agent" way too close to me asking questions when I just wanted too pee. I told them of the "general license" to travel to Cuba for family visitations. They told me that there was no such thing as a "general license". After we got out of custody, a heafty american lady searched our luggage, and the heafty american lady verbally confirmed that there is no such thing as a "general license" because she "looked it up". She told me to fill out a certain form...Question #1 was "Are you traveling under a GENERAL LICENSE or a specific license. I spoke up about the GENERAL LICENSE on the form, but she said "There is no such thing". I completed the form, and the heafty lady said "go". We ran, and our connection flight was waiting for us...DELAYED waiting.

What a bunch of dummies.

OH and did Cuba stamp your passports in and out? They recently started doing that and I found out first hand........not just the tourist card anymore.

For any of the VJ members that may live in Cuba or have gotten married in Cuba, this is what I would like to know:

Has anyone had their birth certificate translated and notarized during their stay in Cuba and then gotten married during their visit? As well as the Certificate of Soltera?

There has been a lot of good information on here about doing this before you go but it is incredibly expensive to have it done here. I would like to see if it is more cost effective to just send your documents to your fiance and have them notarized in Cuba at a reduced price?

Thanks Guys, great forum.

http://www.cubadiplomatica.cu/alemania/ES/ServiciosConsulares.aspx#Arancel This link will give the list of fees based on the services you require should you require consular services. The total fees we incurred were due to a combination of fees that we required. Obtaining the marriage certificate, using their notary services for the ceremony and the legalization of our certificates by MINREX so tha I can use them outside of Cuba. It adds up. My husband confirmed which office in Playa we were to use weeks before my arrival. I brought the necessary documents with me. We walked in with our documentation. It was reviewed/approved. (For example we provided our 2 witnesses' ID info etc. to the official.)Paid the necessary fees. Then we set the date and time we were to return for the actual ceremony. The actual marriage certificates were ready for pick up about 2 weeks after our marriage. It really was not difficult. I think I was more annoyed going through customs and keeping my bags under weight so that I do not get fleeced than the steps taken to arrange the ceremony. That was a breeze and it made the rest of our day perfect.

Calygirl-

I was thinking the other day and wondered why not just get all of the documents approved in Cuba? Like send them before you go to your fiance and just have them notarize your birth certificate and single status certificate?

Is that doable? Something tells me that it could be done for less money when you are in Cuba...........

Ideas?

Thanks.

Actually, all you need is to have the translated copy notarized as "Correct Translation". You do NOT need some high priced translator to do this. I used a professional secretary who was a notary. I did the translation using google translate with her in her office. Fixed the words that were not translated correctly (WITH THE NOTARY PRESANT). After we were done, she notarized it, and I sent it in. It was fine. I don't suggest doing it yourself, but NO WAY would I pay some high priced professional translator for this. You don't need to.

Good luck to you..

I am not going to say you are wrong, but we are talking about Cuba here. They are always looking for something to hold things up and make you go crazy, they found a mistake and you have to start over, etc.

Calygirl is a native spanish speaker so thats not a problem for her at all.

RD is easy compared to Cuba, I have had friends marry in both countries and there is no comparison how much harder Cuba can be.........I wouldn't pay for a high price translator either.

http://www.cubadiplomatica.cu/alemania/ES/ServiciosConsulares.aspx#Arancel This link will give the list of fees based on the services you require should you require consular services. The total fees we incurred were due to a combination of fees that we required. Obtaining the marriage certificate, using their notary services for the ceremony and the legalization of our certificates by MINREX so tha I can use them outside of Cuba. It adds up. My husband confirmed which office in Playa we were to use weeks before my arrival. I brought the necessary documents with me. We walked in with our documentation. It was reviewed/approved. (For example we provided our 2 witnesses' ID info etc. to the official.)Paid the necessary fees. Then we set the date and time we were to return for the actual ceremony. The actual marriage certificates were ready for pick up about 2 weeks after our marriage. It really was not difficult. I think I was more annoyed going through customs and keeping my bags under weight so that I do not get fleeced than the steps taken to arrange the ceremony. That was a breeze and it made the rest of our day perfect.

Thats good info. I would think that if you were born in Cuba that some of these fees would be much less expensive unless you were born outside. How long did it take for them to do the initial approval of your documents and then come back and get married?

Is there any added legal benefits of getting married in Cuba for you as the US citizen? I know you wanted to get married there anyway but is there any other plus side as far as legality if one day you ever have a house there, etc.

Of course, if things would ever change so much that you would want to live there.......thank you, great post!

I forgot to mention that it also cost me about $80 in fees to request my 2 originals from the state of FL, pay for the certified Docs to be authenticated by the State Department. Only to have the Cuban Interest Section certify the certification that was already certified. LOL. CRAZY!!!!! but you are right, you do what is right for you as a couple. For us it was important to be married in Cuba and we made the arrangments accordingly. Oh yes!! There was also the $600 CUC fee to be married in Cuba. If anyone has any questions about that process by all means let me know. I can share those details too.

So you were up to like $600 for the Birth Certificate and you did your own translations.

Then of course you had to fly there and pay for your tickets, etc. $400+ from Miami.

And now you are saying that you had to pay $600 for a marriage certificate in Cuba???!!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt :bonk: :rofl:

The CR1 filing is like $1,000 I believe?

Now you are up and over $2600 easy. Way.

Oh and the cost of the wedding which is a deal compared to here in the states, thats true. Yes can you share more details about that process and how long it took to get the certificate? Did you have to send all of your documents to Cuba before you left so that your husband could start the process? How much does it cost for a couple to marry in Cuba? $5 CUC????!!!!

Sorry my friend, that is a train robbery that Jesse James would be proud of.

Hi -

I am frontloading my I-129F application. My fiance and I have been in an on and off relationship for 8 years. Our email correspondence reflects the ups and downs of our relationship. I am not sure if I should only include examples of emails when we are getting along perfectly or if I should also include the emails where we are doing poorly and working out our differences. We were broken up for a two year period and I was going to include the emails where we decide to get back together. I thought that would be an important detail for our case considering a natural question will be - why didn't you get married sooner? or why are you getting back together? However, there are a lot of reasons we didn't get married sooner that aren't related to our disagreements, such as my fiance's ailing mother, his children etc. Perhaps it would be better to leave the rocky parts of our relationship out of the application?

Does anybody have any advice here?

Thanks.

Way, Way too much information for Immigration to know. Start your relationship over from the last (last) time. You will need to go back to Cuba within the last two years and provide proof though and go from there.

8 years? Braver than me!

Good luck!

Cuban? What about the "one-foot-on-US-soil" rule for Cubans?

This happens a lot with Cuban K-1 Visas.

If a Cuban beneficiary overstays their given Visa, they just need to make it 9 more months and show up for the CAA at one year and one day and they are as good as gold to not get deported.

Thats the law, even if they leave the K1 petitioner high and dry and go hide out in Hialeah.

Wow, that is an incredible sum of money for what amounts to about 60 seconds of work on the Cuban Interest Section's part. How much are they making an hour doing that I wonder........?!

In fact, that is actually a license for them to print money since they are not even requesting the Birth Certificate themselves to further authenticate/validate its origin and truthfulness. I mean, when you really think about it, without you standing in front of them with your ID or Passport, how would they know for sure anyway.......

So basically for those thinking that the CR-1 would be a lower cost route to go versus the K-1, its not given the above that you dont have to to with the K-1. And of course the other Cuba payments for Medical exam, embassy interview, etc keeps adding to the cost even though those are the same no matter the type of marriage visa.

I guess in the end if you know you want to get married and you want your spouse to be able to hit the ground running looking for a job when they get off of the plane, that is the way to go.

Very informative. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you so much for providing the statement. Definitely not a professional but fluent in both languages Before our wedding, I did translate my birth certificate from english to spanish and sent it to the Cuban Interest Section in Washington for legalization. Before doing that I stopped by an agency to have it notarized and they approved the version I provided and stamped it. Saved a bit of time and $. This time I translated the marriage certificate and drafted a similar statement as the one you suggested. Although I like yours better so I will definitely modify my statement to reflect the wording above. I plan to stop by the same agency to get it notarized, just hoping to "compare notes" before I drive over to the agency. Example: "Para surtir efecto en:" "To take effect in:" "Certifico:" "I Hereby Certify:" etc.

Calygirl-

When you sent your already translated Birth Certificate off to the Cuban Interest Section in Washington how long did it take and how much did they charge to approve it?

Did you also have to have the Eligible to Marry Document translated and notarized by a translation service?

Cuba.........!!!!

Thanks,

Art

That sucks. That is not right to just backdoor it like that and let it die. And lose your money?

Nooooooooooooo

I don't believe that's true. You submit the K1 petition for the fiance visa. While that is pending, she should be able to get a tourist visa if she meets the minimum qualification. As long as you can show all the evidence needed for the K1 petition, you should not have a problem getting a tourist visa after you submitted your K1 petition. Right now the K1 petition is running around eight months. Then there's a few months of processing at the embassy before the actual fiance visa is approved and issued.

Unless your fiance is from Cuba! Good post though, never knew you could do that.

.....you let a K1 Visa Expire?

That sounds awesome from right here.....lets see what happens my friend

That is good info to know. The more I have ready about the I-129F package errors, the more I am convinced that they get glossed over upon initial receipt. When it gets down to the end at the interview is when they seem to like to say "Oh, you are missing something".....

Both!

So one last question: Does the beneficiary letter of intent have to be in Spanish or in English? And if so in Spanish does it have to be officially translated? Will be interviewing in Havana.

Thanks everybody!