Cuba Offers One-Year Visas to Foreigners who Buy or Lease Real Estate
HAVANA TIMES — At a time when Cuba is promoting projects that will boost tourism, the government on Wednesday (May 21) established a “temporary residence” visa for foreigners who buy or lease real estate on the island.
According to a resolution from the Ministry of the Interior, published in the Official Gazette, the new visa — good for one year and renewable — was designed for foreigners “who are owners or lessees of real estate, as well as their foreign relatives who might require it.”
During their stay in Cuba, these foreigners “may carry out activities related to tourism and business duly authorized by the existing legislation.”
To carry out “activities that are different from those authorized,” they must obtain a special permit.
The visa will be lost if the foreigners cease to be owners or lessees because of “behavior that violates the Constitution” or the laws, or if they remain outside of Cuba for one year.
The new Investments Law passed in March, which will take effect in June, authorizes the sale or lease of real estate to foreign investors.
Does this mean that my friend franco franco can begin building my “condo” on the roof of his house in San Agustin? Also, many of the abandoned edifices of the former “schools to the countryside” could be turned into long-term vacation rentals and condos for northern snowbirds! This would be an excellent source of additional income in hard currencies.
The unfortunate truth is, It’s always necessary to somewhat betray socialism in order to preserve it. Socialism only works until you run out of someone else’s money. When you do, you have to find someone else to get that money from.
As long as they are VERY selective about who and how much real estate they are willing to sell to foreigners, this can be a boon to the Cuban economy. Businesses that will employ a lot of Cubans, for instance, are win-win. Selling condo units within the established resort system can be really good too (I would buy one for sure, and I’d spend a great deal of money in Cuba that I’d otherwise spend in Canada and the US).
What would be bad, is if they just let any developer build and/or sell to any foreigner at any price. As much as I’d love the opportunity to buy a detached house in Cuba, I also know that it would be a very harsh thing economically for Cubans if I were allowed to do that. Housing prices are tough enough for them right now, the last thing they need is the runaway inflation of a hot real estate market.
YES!! this is what my sons have done And the reason I come home often
More people for the apartheid system in Cuba: foreigners that are under threat to loose their property if they “violate Cuban law” and bring in lots of dollars.
this would only make sense if we lived on a flat earth. More money on a fixed land mass can only push property prices beyond what people can earn, the exact opposite of the people’s wishes. This is sad for Cuba. The more spent on property (read land), the less there is for food. Speculators win, banksters win, producers & people lose – welcome to the global land bubble.
If Cuba allows outright foreign ownership of property they are in big trouble. No one but developers and government officials benefit from time share condos and the like, just ask all the poverty stricken Mexican people in the Riviera Maya and such places. I wish Canada was smart enough to have restrictions on foreign ownership. Real estate prices in Vancouver have been driven so high by off shore buyers that young families will NEVER be able to afford to own homes there. Sad.