Consulates

Cuban civil registry certificates from the US: fees from $50 to $180

Marriage, divorce, death, single status, legal capacity and citizenship: how to request Cuban certificates from the US, with each form and fee.

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Cuban civil registry certificates from the US: fees and forms

The Cuban Consular Office in Washington, DC, requests civil-registry and other certificates from Cuba on behalf of applicants in the United States. Payment comes in two parts. You pay $20 USD when you apply (plus $20 USD if sent by mail). When the document arrives from Cuba, you pay the issuance fee. That fee is $100 USD for marriage, divorce, death, single status, last-will and declaration-of-heirs certificates; $50 USD for legal capacity to marry; and $180 USD for nationality, citizenship or Foreigners Registry certificates (fees published by the Cuban Consular Office, checked October 3, 2026). Two rules matter from the start. You must state on the form whether you need MINREX legalization, and the $20 request fee is not refunded if the procedure is not completed.

Versión en español

This page puts the certificates that share the same request system into one table. Birth certificates and criminal-record certificates have their own guides: Cuban birth certificate and Cuban criminal-record certificate.

Fee table by certificate

Issuance fees published by the Cuban Consular Office, checked October 3, 2026. They are paid when the document arrives from Cuba, on top of the $20 USD request fee (+$20 USD by mail).

Certificate	Form (file on the official page)	Issuance	Resolución 38/2023
Marriage	`anexo_5._certificacion_de_matrimonio_0.pdf`	$100.00 USD	10.a
Divorce judgment	`anexo_6.certificacion_de_sentencia_de_divorcio_0.pdf`	$100.00 USD	10.a
Death	`anexo_7._certificacion_de_defuncion_0.pdf`	$100.00 USD	10.a
Single status (soltería)	`anexo_9._certificacion_de_solteria_0.pdf` (the text calls it “Anexo 8”)	$100.00 USD	10.a
Last-will acts (Actos de Última Voluntad)	No dedicated form listed	$100.00 USD	10.a
Declaration of heirs (Declaratoria de Herederos)	No dedicated form listed	$100.00 USD	10.a
Legal capacity to marry	`anexo_12._certificado_de_capacidad_legal_para_el_matrimonio.pdf`	$50.00 USD	10.b
Nationality	No dedicated form listed	$180.00 USD	11.a
Citizenship or its negative	`anexo_10._certificacion_de_ciudadania_o_su_negativo.pdf`	$180.00 USD	11
Foreigners Registry	`anexo_11._certificacion_de_registros_de_extranjeros.pdf` (the text calls it “Anexo 9”)	$180.00 USD	11.c
Birth	`anexo_3.certificacion_de_nacimiento_1.pdf`, separate guide	$100.00 USD	10.a
Criminal record	`anexo_4._certificacion_de_antecedentes_penales_0.pdf`, separate guide	$100.00 USD	10.a

Every amount in the table matches the US column of the Cuban Foreign Ministry fee schedule, Resolución 38/2023 (signed June 29, 2023). Section 10.a of the Resolución also puts “unión de hecho” (de facto union) in the same $100 group, although the consular page’s list does not mention it.

Same system, outside the civil registry. The page lists the “Certificación expedida por un centro educacional” (educational-institution certificate) at $280.00 USD, and a graduate certificate or non-disqualified degree at $230.00 USD (checked October 3, 2026). Both match section 13 of the Resolución. The text calls the form “Anexo 11”, but the page’s list has no form file for it.

Extra payments: authentication and legalizations

Per the page, when the document arrives from Cuba the applicant is contacted to send the following payments, as applicable (checked October 3, 2026):

Item	Published amount	What Resolución 38/2023 says
Authentication by the Cuban institution that issued the document	$100.00 USD	Its only $100 legalization line (13.d) is for educational documents; for civil-registry documents the amount appears only on the page
MINREX legalization	$40.00 USD	19.f, 40.00
Consular Office legalization	$40.00 USD	24.b, 40.00

The request forms we reviewed (birth, criminal record, marriage, death and citizenship) have the boxes “Legalización en MINREX” and “Legalización en Embajada de”; there is no box for the authentication. Resolución 38/2023 prices embassy legalization separately from the Consular Office row above: for Civil Registry certificates that must be legalized by the diplomatic or consular mission of the country concerned in Cuba, it applies section 19.e, “Legalización de documentos en las embajadas en La Habana”, at $60.00 in the US column. The $40.00 item (24.b) is the legalization recognizing the signatures of DGACCRE officials on documents issued in Cuba for use abroad. The consular page lists no price for embassy legalization, so confirm the charge with the Consular Office.

What the forms ask for

Marriage (anexo_5): both spouses’ full names, the date of the marriage, the place (municipality, province, country), the civil registry where it was recorded, the registry’s municipality and province, and the tomo (volume) and folio (page).
Death (anexo_7): full name, date and place of death, and the civil registry where the death was recorded or, failing that, the funeral home where the wake was held, with tomo and folio.
Citizenship or its negative (anexo_10): the certificate requested, full name, date and place of birth, parents’ names, where the person lives or lived in Cuba, date of death, and other relevant details, plus the requester’s details.

Having the registry’s tomo and folio ready helps with these forms. Resolución 38/2023 also provides for an extra charge (section 19.c) when the user supplies wrong or incomplete data and more than one registry has to be searched.

Rules worth knowing

The request fee is not refunded. Resolución 38/2023, Annex II, Article 10: if the procedure is not completed, the request fee already paid is not returned.
Last-will and heirs certificates need a death certificate. The request must be accompanied by a death certificate of the deceased. If you do not provide it, obtaining it is charged as a separate service.
A certificate of a Cuban record is not the same as registering a US event. This page covers requesting a certificate of something recorded in Cuba. To register in Cuba a marriage or a death that took place in the US, see marriage registration and death registration.
Payment is by USPS Postal Money Order only, made out to “Embajada de Cuba en Estados Unidos”. The page says a request paid with any other money order is returned.
Money-order completion: the Cuban Consular Office’s services page requires USPS money orders to be completed legibly in black or blue ink, without cross-outs or smudges (checked October 23, 2026).
Family requests by mail: the same page requires a separate return envelope for each applicant when a family submits applications (checked October 23, 2026).

Step by step

Pick the form from the table by file name, where the table lists one, and fill it in with the registry details. For certificates with no dedicated form listed, ask the Consular Office.
Mark whether you need legalization by MINREX or by an embassy.
Submit the request. In person: 2639 16th St NW, Washington DC, 20009, Monday to Friday 9:00 AM to 12:00 noon. These are the public hours since March 4, 2024, per Nota Informativa No1/2024. By mail: Embassy of the Republic of Cuba, 2630 16th St NW, Washington DC, 20009, with a prepaid return envelope left unsealed (the page recommends a tracking number). The page gives two different street numbers, 2639 for visits and 2630 for mail, so use each exactly as published. You can also go through an agency contracted by the consulate.
Pay the $20 USD request fee (+$20 USD by mail).
Wait for notice that the document has arrived from Cuba.
Pay the issuance fee from the table, plus, as applicable, authentication and legalizations.

Using a Cuban certificate in the United States

Cuba does not appear in the Hague Conference (HCCH) status table of parties to the Apostille Convention, so a Cuban document is not apostilled. Instead, the page offers MINREX legalization and Consular Office legalization. Confirm what the receiving US office or agency requires with that office. This guide does not state any USCIS rule. For the reverse process, US documents for use in Cuba, see legalizing documents for Cuba. If you need a record issued in the US, see vital records by state.

What the page does not publish

Processing time.
How long the certificates remain valid.
Dedicated forms for the nationality, last-will, declaration-of-heirs and educational-institution certificates.

For questions, the office takes inquiries Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, at (202)-797-8518 and recepcion@usadc.embacuba.cu.

Official sources

Cuban Consular Office in the United States, “Servicios Consulares” (section “Solicitud de documentos a Cuba” and the “Formularios-Misión” list), Spanish page: misiones.cubaminrex.cu/es/eeuu/servicios-consulares. The page shows no visible last-updated date; its HTML metadata gives a last-modified time of April 4, 2024. The office’s English-language page is older and out of date, so this guide relies on the Spanish page only.
Resolución No. 38/2023, Cuban Foreign Ministry consular fee schedule, sections 10, 11, 13, 19 and 24, and Annex II, Article 10: resolucion_38_de_2023_sobre_el_arancel_consular.pdf
Citizenship or non-citizenship certificate request form: anexo_10._certificacion_de_ciudadania_o_su_negativo.pdf
Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Apostille Convention status table: hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41

Last verified: 2026-10-03. General procedural information for educational purposes. Fees and forms are set by the Government of Cuba and can change. Verify directly with the Cuban Consular Office in Washington. Not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Cuban marriage certificate cost from the United States?

The Cuban Consular Office page in Washington lists $20 USD for the request (plus $20 USD if sent by mail) and $100 USD for issuing the marriage certificate, paid when the document arrives from Cuba. Legalization fees are added if you request legalization. Amounts checked October 3, 2026.

How much do the single-status and legal-capacity-to-marry certificates cost?

The single-status certificate (certificación de soltería) is $100 USD for issuance and the legal capacity to marry certificate is $50 USD, plus the $20 USD request fee (plus $20 USD by mail), per the consular page checked October 3, 2026. That matches Resolución 38/2023, sections 10.a and 10.b.

How much is a Cuban citizenship certificate or certificate of non-citizenship?

The page lists $180 USD for the citizenship certificate or its negative (Certificación de Ciudadanía o su Negativo), $180 USD for the nationality certificate and $180 USD for the Foreigners Registry certificate, plus the $20 USD request fee (plus $20 USD by mail). Amounts checked October 3, 2026, matching Resolución 38/2023, section 11.

Do I get the $20 back if the certificate cannot be obtained?

No. Resolución 38/2023, Annex II, Article 10, says that if the procedure is not completed, the request fee already paid is not refunded, and that the user must be told this when requesting the service.

What do I need for a last-will or declaration-of-heirs certificate?

Besides the form and payment, Resolución 38/2023 says the request must be accompanied by a death certificate of the deceased. If you do not provide it, you are told to provide or obtain it, and obtaining it is charged as a separate service. Each of these certificates is $100 USD for issuance.

Why does the annex number not match the form?

The page is out of step with its own files. Its text calls the single-status form Anexo 8, the Foreigners Registry form Anexo 9 and the educational-institution form Anexo 11. The published files, however, are anexo_9 for single status and anexo_11 for the Foreigners Registry, and there is no file for the educational-institution certificate. Use the file name.

Can I apostille a Cuban certificate to use it in the US?

Cuba does not appear in the Hague Conference’s table of parties to the Apostille Convention. What the page offers instead is legalization, by Cuba’s MINREX and by the Consular Office. What the US agency receiving the document requires should be confirmed with that agency.

How long does a Cuban certificate requested from the US take?

The consular page publishes no processing time and no validity period for these certificates. It only says that when the document arrives from Cuba, the office contacts the applicant to collect the issuance and legalization fees.

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General information, not legal advice. MigrantUSA is an independent publisher and is not a law firm; using this site does not create an attorney-client relationship, and this content is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney about your specific situation. US federal, state, and local government procedures, fees, and forms change. Always verify current details directly with the relevant agency before acting. For immigration, tax, or other legal matters specific to your situation, consult a licensed attorney or BIA-accredited representative.