Skip to main content
Home
  • News
  • Services
    • Certification for Russia, Kazakhstan and EAEU
      • Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union
      • EAC Certificate of Conformity to Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union
      • EAC Declaration of Conformity to Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union
      • EAC Marking
      • EAC certification of machinery
      • EAC Certification of Pressure Equipment
      • EAC Certification of Explosion-proof equipment
      • EAC Certification of Electrical Equipment
      • EAC Certification of Vehicles
      • EAC Certification of switch and control cabinets and electrical distribution boards
      • EAC Certification of agricultural equipment
      • EAC Certification of Clothing and Shoes
      • EAC certification of children's clothing, toys and accessories
      • EAC certification of personal protective equipment
      • EAC Declaration for Cosmetics
      • EAC Certification of Food
      • EAC Certification of furniture
      • EAC Zertifikat für Eisenbahn
      • EAC Certification of Alcohol
      • EAC Certification of Cables
      • EAC Certification of multicomponent products
      • EAC Certification of engines
      • EAC certification of pumps
      • EAC Certification of the pipeline valves
      • EAC Certification for industrial plants
      • EAC Certification of Chemicals
      • EAC Certification of household appliances
      • EAC Certification of luminaires, bulbs and LED modules
      • EAC Certification of measuring instruments
      • EAC Zertifizierung von Verpackungen
      • State Hygienic Registration (SGR)
      • Conformity assessment of fire safety
      • GOST Certification for Russia
      • TR Certification for Russia
      • FAC Certification of communications equipment
      • FSB Notification - Admission of Electronic Devices
      • Licensing of radio and high frequency equipment
      • Import license for ozone depleting substances
      • Certification for medical devices and medicines for Russia and EAEU
      • Conformity assessment for construction material
      • Technical documentation for EAC conformity assessment
      • Consultancy on EAC conformity assessment
      • Exemption Letter for import to Russia
      • Authorized Representative for Russia and EAEU for EAC certification
      • Manufacturing audit for EAC certification
      • Surveillance of EAC conformity assessment
      • Product and packaging marking as a part of the Technical Regulation in the EAEU
      • Costs of EAC certification and EAC declaration
      • Selection and shipment of samples for EAC certification and EAC declaration
      • Technical Regulation in Kazakhstan
      • Technical Regulation in Belarus - Conformity assessment
      • EAC conformity assessment schemes
      • Frequently asked questions about EAC certificates and declarations
      • Period of validity of EAC certificates and declarations
      • Type examination for EAC conformity assessment
    • Apostille and consular Legalization of foreign documents
      • Apostille and consular legalization from Russia and Eurasian Economic Union
      • Apostille and consular legalization from Europe and European Union
      • Apostille and consular legalization from Asia
      • Apostille and consular legalization from the Americas
      • Apostille and consular legalization from Africa
      • Apostille and consular legalization from Oceania
      • Banks and financial institutions
      • Global mobility and visa support
      • Lawyers and notaries
      • Translation agencies
      • Frequently asked questions about apostille and consular legalization
    • Extracts from foreign commercial registers and accounting statements
      • Extracts from commercial registers of Russia and EAEU
      • Extracts from the commercial register and company information from Europe
      • Extracts from the commercial register and company information from Asia
      • Extracts from the commercial register and company information from the Americas
      • Extracts from the commercial register and company information from Africa
      • Extracts from the commercial register and company information from Oceania
      • Know Your Customer
    • Extracts from foreign land registers
      • Land register extracts from Europe
      • Land register extracts from Russia and EEU
      • Land register extracts from Asia
      • Land register extracts from the Americas
      • Land register extracts from Africa
      • Land register extracts from Australia and Oceania
    • Procurement of documents worldwide
      • Procurement of documents in Austria
      • Procurement of documents in Albania
      • Procurement of documents in Andorra
      • Procurement of documents in Armenia
      • Procurement of documents in Belize
      • Procurement of documents in Belarus
      • Procurement of documents in Belgium
      • Procurement of documents in Bulgaria
      • Procurement of documents in Bosnia and Herzegovina
      • Procurement of documents in the Vatican
      • Procurement of documents in the United Kingdom
      • Procurement of documents in Hungary
      • Procurement of documents in Haiti
      • Procurement of documents in Germany
      • Procurement of documents in Greece
      • Procurement of documents in Denmark
      • Procurement of documents in Iran
      • Procurement of documents in Ireland
      • Procurement of documents in Iceland
      • Procurement of documents in Spain
      • Procurement of documents in Italy
      • Procurement of documents in Kazakhstan
      • Procurement of documents in Canada
      • Procurement of documents in Kyrgyzstan
      • Procurement of documents in China
      • Procurement of documents in Latvia
      • Procurement of documents in Lithuania
      • Procurement of documents in Mexico
      • Procurement of documents in Moldova
      • Procurement of documents in Mongolia
      • Procurement of documents in the Netherlands
      • Procurement of documents in Norway
      • Procurement of documents in Poland
      • Procurement of documents in Portugal
      • Procurement of documents in Russia
      • Procurement of documents in Romania
      • Procurement of documents in the USA
      • Procurement of documents in Serbia
      • Procurement of documents in Slovakia
      • Procurement of documents in Slovenia
      • Procurement of documents in Tajikistan
      • Procurement of documents in Turkmenistan
      • Procurement of documents in Uzbekistan
      • Procurement of documents in Finland
      • Procurement of documents in France
      • Procurement of documents in Croatia
      • Procurement of documents in Montenegro
      • Procurement of documents in the Czech Republic
      • Procurement of documents in Switzerland
      • Procurement of documents in Sweden
      • Procurement of documents in Estonia
      • Procurement of documents in South Korea
      • Procurement of documents in Antigua and Barbuda
      • Procurement of documents in the Bahamas
      • Procurement of documents in Cyprus
      • Procurement of documents in Malta
      • Procurement of documents in Ukraine
      • Procurement of documents in Japan
      • FAQ replacement & retrieval of documents
    • Technical and legal translations
      • Legal translations
      • Technical translations
      • Certified translations
      • Marketing translations
      • Translation of contracts
      • Translations of trade register extracts
      • Proofreading
      • Editing
    Our Services
    Our Services

    We develop professional solutions for each customer individually to master successfully the challenges in the new markets.

  • Company
    • Team
    • Our references
    • Our story
    • Customer reviews
    • Affiliate program
    Our Company
    Our Company

    We are a globally operating consulting company based in Passau. Our broad spectrum of corporate services aims to cross borders and overcome boundaries together with our clients.

  • Career
  • Contact
News Schmidt & Schmidt

Long queues for consular legalization: How documents are certified in Cuba in 2025


Order an apostille
  1. Home
  2. News

Monthly archive

  • 2025 (80)
  • 2024 (54)
  • 2023 (39)
  • 2022 (89)
  • 2021 (187)
  • 2020 (89)
  • 2019 (42)
  • 2018 (34)
  • 2017 (21)
  • 2016 (14)
  • 2015 (4)
Long queues for consular legalization: How documents are certified in Cuba in 2025

In Cuba, applicants for consular legalization of documents face queues numbering in the thousands, according to a report by Directorio Cubano.

Consular Legalization in Cuba

As of today, Cuba is not a party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (the “Apostille Convention”). Therefore, in order to use Cuban documents abroad or foreign documents within Cuba, they must undergo the rather lengthy and complex procedure of consular legalization.

Consular legalization involves having the document certified first by the competent national authority, and then by the consulate or the consular section of the embassy of the country where the document will be used. A significant drawback of this procedure is that, once legalized, the document can only be presented in the state for which it was certified. For use in any other country, the process must be repeated from the beginning.

In 2024, the Cuban authorities announced a reform of the consular legalization process. They officially introduced a requirement that certification by the competent national authority must take no more than ten days.

This announcement came amid a sharp increase in demand for the service. Experts attribute this surge to legislative changes adopted by the Spanish government, which allow Cuban citizens to obtain Spanish nationality.

At the same time, the Cuban government stated that the expedited consular legalization process was a temporary measure, and that Cuba is considering joining the Apostille Convention. In early 2025, Cubans were given the option to submit applications for the consular legalization of civil status documents online. In addition, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially transferred its powers in the field of consular legalization to the Ministry of Justice. This reform was formalized by Council of Ministers Agreement No. 10034 of 30 December 2024, published in the Official Gazette of Cuba on 3 February 2025.

The explanatory notes to the regulation state that it was adopted in order to “update administrative procedures” and “increase efficiency” in the legalization process. The Ministry of Justice is now responsible both for legalizing Cuban documents for use abroad and for recognizing foreign documents intended for use within Cuba.

To integrate all stages of the legalization process for Cuban and foreign documents — a process involving registry offices, law firms, and consulting companies — we are today transferring legalization functions from CubaMINREX to Minjus_Cuba

— wrote Ana Teresita González, Director General of the Directorate of Consular Affairs and Attention to Cubans Resident Abroad, on social media.

For citizens, nothing has changed apart from the competent authority to which applications must now be submitted. The procedure itself remains the same.

Problems with consular legalization of documents in Cuba in 2025

According to Cuban media, despite the formal reduction of processing times for consular legalization, in practice the procedure can now take months — or even years.

The delays are caused by a shortage of technical staff and necessary materials, as well as logistical difficulties. Problems already arise at the stage of preliminary certification.

Universities, notary offices, and branches of the Ministry of Justice are facing enormous overload, despite growing demand caused by immigration and family circumstances

— writes Directorio Cubano.

The most difficult situation has developed in the legalization of educational documents. For example, about 5,000 diplomas from the University of Havana, issued between 2023 and 2025, are currently being processed.

Camilo Pascual Vizcaíno, President of the corporate group of international law firms Legal Services SA, told journalists that at institutions such as the University of Havana, the Medical University, and CUJAE, delays can reach up to four years.

According to Denys Pereira Hierro, Head of the Independent Legal Department of the Ministry of Higher Education, out of 22,452 applications received during this period, only 17,463 have been processed. The most common educational documents submitted for legalization are diplomas, transcripts, and course completion certificates. Citizens also legalize special certificates and copies of documents.

Experts say that the transfer of powers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Justice has not simplified but has complicated the situation. The Cuban Ministry of Justice has so far been unable to optimize the process and reach the required processing speed.

At the same time, the First Deputy Minister of Justice explained the problems by the continued growth in the number of legalization requests. In 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalized 442,564 documents, in 2024 — 860,135, and from January to June 2025 alone, the Ministry of Justice has already received 600,614 applications.

Media also report that constant power outages, caused by Cuba’s energy crisis, have a negative impact on the speed of legalization. Because of this, many actions related to consular legalization have to be carried out manually by officials.

What is an apostille?

What is an apostille? Why do I need an apostille? How do I get an apostille? - Our video will explain everything you need to know about the apostille. If you have a document that needs to be certified with an apostille for use abroad, Schmidt and Schmidt will assist you! We provide apostille services in more than 100 countries worldwide.

How can we help?

We will be happy to help you with apostille and legalization of documents for use abroad. You can always contact Schmidt & Schmidt, we have accumulated vast experience in legalization of various documents and we provide all necessary services in this area, including making notarized copies, translation, preparation of necessary powers of attorney, legalization of documents in government agencies and consulates of foreign countries, as well as delivery of finished documents to most countries of the world. You can read more about the legalization procedure for Cuba and other countries on our website.

Order an apostille
Please login or register to leave a comment. Please note that we release all comments manually, so that they are only published with a certain time delay. You can find more information about the comment function here.

About this article

Polina Kalacheva
Polina Kalacheva
Intern
ApostilleConsular Legalization of foreign documentsHague Convention 1961ReformMass media
07 August 2025

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Stay informed on our latest news.

Subscribe

Related Posts

Apostille in France online: how to request it in 2025
Apostille in France online: how to request it in 2025
France has updated its online portal for ordering document apostilles, and it is now working again. Earlier, French experts said that after the legalization reform, the portal was not working.
03 August 2025
Polina Kalacheva
U.S. Apostille in Texas: How to Legalize Documents in 2025
U.S. Apostille in Texas: How to Legalize Documents in 2025
In Texas, USA, the procedure for getting documents apostilled will change starting August 5, 2025. This update comes from the official website of the Texas Secretary of State.
03 August 2025
Polina Kalacheva
Apostille services in Arizona: document certification guide for 2025
Apostille services in Arizona: document certification guide for 2025
The authorities of Arizona (USA) have updated the guidelines for apostilling documents. The relevant changes are posted on the official website of the Arizona Secretary of State.
21 July 2025
Polina Kalacheva
Bermuda’s Apostille Authority сhanges address
Bermuda’s Apostille Authority сhanges address
The Parliamentary Registry Office of Bermuda has relocated. The announcement was published in the Bernews outlet.
18 July 2025
Polina Kalacheva

Pagination

  • Next page ››
Schmidt & Schmidt OHG
+1 332 208 131 7
office_hours
offline
contact@schmidt-export.com
Germany

Bahnhofstrasse 22a
94032Passau
Visa
Mastercard
SEPA Bank Transfer
PayPal

Footer menu

  • Contact
  • Guarantee
  • Imprint
  • Privacy policy
  • Legal agreements
  • Withdrawal policy
  • Site map
  • Payment terms
  • Cookie policy
  • TEST

Search

  • Deutsch
  • English
  • Español
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Қазақ тілі
  • Русский
  • Türkçe
  • 中文
+1 332 208 131 7
office_hours
offline
contact@schmidt-export.com