Embassy of Cuba — Local services in Washington

So I decided to write my review in hopes it might help some of you as I as well experienced many frustrations with the lack of communication and information available online. So much, that my husband and I decided to take the 4 hour drive to D.C. with my 80 year old father in law who departed Cuba in 1980 and needed to renew his passport ( he is now a US citizen but required to travel with both passports since he departed Cuba after 1971)In hopes of obtaining some info in person. Glad to say we were successful. Upon arriving at the Cuban embassy we were greeted by closed gates and an intercom. LUCKILY at that same moment someone was exiting and asked what we needed. After explaining our situation he pointed us to a small one level unit located DIRECTLY across the street and stated it was the Cuban consular office and they would renew it there ( later in conversation with the same man he explained the embassy is still unable to renew passports as they were still awaiting approval ) we crossed the street to this little building that looks under construction and we were greeted by another man who stated yes we could renew his passports. Here are some pointers you must know before going: NO they DO NOT accept cash ( this information is wrong on their website. They only accept postal money order. We found a post office a couple of blocks away My father in law already had an expired passport so it wasn't an initial passport. The fee was $350 and $5 so 2 separate money orders were required. They also required a certified prepaid postal envelope where your passport will eventually be mailed to you. This cost about $22.95 at the post office. 2 passport photos are required. You must bring this with you. It can take anywhere from 3-6 months for the passport to arrive. It gets sent to Cuba and then back to you. They require a certified envelope so you are able to track it yourself after 3 months. I mentioned to one of the gentleman there who was EXTREMELY helpful and willing to answer all questions how frustrating it is with the lack of information available online. He acknowledged and mentioned they currently do not have the man power to answer all phone calls. ( visibly about 5 people were working on that day)

Hours of operation are 9 am- 12 pm so it is very important that you come prepared.

If your question is traveling with a Visa (NON CUBAN TRAVLERS) - save the trip. He explained over and over that it can be purchased directly with the airline at check in. If you decide to purchase it with them( them=consular office) it takes one week. You will need to bring passport photos with you and they will give you a date 1 week later to pick it up. You are able to do it for family members but there will be an additional $20 per person not present at the time of the request.

If you are able to renew your passport with an agency I would say it's worth it. My father in law had inquired with an agency in queens Ny who charged $450 for the renewal. We drove to D.C. Thinking it would be cheaper and the process would be faster. That obviously want the case. It takes the same amount of time and by the end of the trip, probably spend more.

We had to fill out a short form and it asked questions like: Date left Cuba Last known address in cuba

They kept the original last passport and stapled it to his application.

I hope this answers some of your questions. Good luck to all!

UPDATE: 2/9/17 Exactly 1 month from the day we visited the embassy, my Father in law received his passport. Very very happy and the speed. We were told it would take 4 months. This was...

Hello, I sent my documents to the Cuban Embassy last year & Fed Ex verified they received my docs on Nov. 2015. It is now 5 months later & nothing. I have left many voice mails on their so-called message operator line, and nobody calls back. I have emailed..........no response. I sent several emails, but I realized today you must spell the english word reception as recepcion (spanish spelling) I realized this after 2 came back, so now I have sent 3 emails. I even addressed one to the Cuban Embassy in D.C. Ambassador. The only thing I can think of is that they are closed for the American and Cuban Holidays?? In which case they should post this on their website? Please, please someone fix this. After my Fiance's K1 Visa got rejected, denied after waiting 1 year, I planned on going to Cuba to get married..........changed my plane ticket twice, hoping waiting for my docs to be sent back to me, and nothing. I ended up going on an expensive vacation & will now have to dole out more money to go back and marry. Geez ....WHY WHY CUBA do you have to be so difficult? Also, because I am on the West Coast I paid a messenger $65.00 to go to the door of the Embassy to try & receive my documents, after 42 minutes the door opened & the messenger was told my documents were not there & the man gave the messenger the same BAD phone number & a bad email address. The messenger went back FREE of CHARGE a second time for me...this time was given a business card, again with same BAD phone number, but this time a good email. In the end the reply is "Your documents were returned" then "We think they are coming back to us" and then another tells me I paid the wrong amount (If anything I over paid) but I paid according to what the website said to pay, which was $176.00 per document, all documents 6 total, 3 in English, 3 in Spanish. Also he told me in the email I was to send a POSTAL money order, the website says CASHIERS CHECK FROM MY BANK, WHICH I DID. I copied the website and send it back to the Consulate officer in the email...now NO reponse. I wrote to another Consular officer, he said he thinks my documents are on there way back to Washington D.C. On the PLUS side the cashiers check has NOT been cashed. OH, and I was also told to contact my Postal service to search for my Documents, although they can not tell me how they were mailed to me, as in which service. I called FedEx & the Cuban Embassy does not have an account with them. And to the post that says Americans have an attitude of entitlement, I say to you ....NOT in this case, this is my second go round, PLAN B. on trying to get married to my Cuban Fiance. All I needed were my documents returned to me, which they were not, & I visited Cuba for Christmas, but had to pay & postpone my trip twice & of course pay more. The Employees at the Cuban Embassy get paid, this is there job, JUST like I work for every thing I have (which is not much) SO.........I do NOT feel entitled, I just want what I have already PAID for & especially after 5 months of waiting for just my documents to...

Oh geez where do I even start? I initiated the process of renewing my Cuban passport in late January of 2018 because I had a trip to Europe in early June of 2018. I did it through a Cuban travel agency that was extremely unhelpful so I decided to fly in to DC in late April and visited the Embassy to see what was taking so long. After waiting 4 hours in the freezing rain (I got there at 5am just to be sure I was first in line), the doors opened and I went in to state to them my issue. The gentleman (not-so-gentleman) behind the window told me that they hadn't received my application until early April (mind you, I had started the process in late January). I told them my situation about my upcoming trip and how it was gifted to me through a scholarship for 5 years of hard work in art school. They told me that it was a beautiful story but there's nothing they can do. I was in complete shock; I got back in line and I had tears in my eyes and begged for help. told me to take a seat and he will be right me. I also needed my passport ASAP because both countries I was visiting (Germany & UK) required a visa each due to it being a Cuban passport which is another mission that followed after procuring the passport. Anywho, the man behind the window called me and asked for my name and then proceeded to tell me that it will arrive on a Friday. Two weeks after that day, on a Friday, I received a call from the agency I got my passport done with saying that my passport came in. This could've all been avoided if I would've gotten my American citizenship beforehand. I am happy to say that I was able to acquire my visas on time and make it to Europe successfully (the trip that changed my life). Long story short, get your citizenship and save yourself the crazy amount of stress myself and others went through just to get the worst passport that exists in the world. Thank you...