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.
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