Post: #1

Hey guys, don't have much time at all, had lots to do in my $7 hour for Internet. I'll write my accounts here when I get the time. But first I must address one thing and ask for some opinions.

My passport got stamped upon entering! I asked the girl not to, she said "ok" and went ahead and stamped it anyways, along with the other two American girls in front of my who spoke fluent Spanish. Can't believe it! Do you think this will be a big issue upon returning to the states? I go to the DR for 12 days after cuba. What if I lost my passport there? What do you guys suggest. I probably won't be back on here for a couple days, but would be grateful to hear some feed back.

Post: #2

On my travels I always photocopy my passport in case I lose it, as for the issue about coming back to the States, just say that you were visiting a friend of the family over there.

Post: #3

Photocopy the front of the passport. Then "lose your passport" and contact the US embassy for a replacement passport.

http://santodomingo.usembassy.gov/passports_lost-e.html

Seems like a big pain in the ass, but doable.

Post: #4

Or cut the page out with the stamp and say it was accidentally torn out. That way you have most of your passport. My friends had to sweet talk the lady to not stamp their passports as I said in the other thread. She stamped the first one but he was using a non-US passport and then he convinced her to not stamp my other friends behind him in line.

Post: #5

Just wondering

If they don't stamp your passport when you enter a country (any country), won't you have problems when you are leaving the country?

Post: #6

i'm under the impression that the cuban stamp is no longer much of a problem...... technically it's not illegal to visit cuba, it's only illegal to spend money there!

Post: #7

Thanks for the feedback. Is anyone certain on the rules or what would happen if I came back with the stamp.

Post: #8

Pitt, no because they usually stamp your visa. In cuba it's never been a problem. They just started stamping passports in April. The did not stamp my friends though. I asked the lady not to and she said "ok". I figured I was good but when I left the line I saw there was a stamp in it.

Cameltoe, it's actually illegal to receive free services from a cuban citizen as well.

Post: #9

(05-12-2014 12:49 AM)CamelToe Wrote:  i'm under the impression that the cuban stamp is no longer much of a problem...... technically it's not illegal to visit cuba, it's only illegal to spend money there!

(05-13-2014 12:25 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  Cameltoe, it's actually illegal to receive free services from a cuban citizen as well.

Just tell US customs you flew to Cuba and spent 3 days in the airport eating food you brought with you in your luggage. Therefore not spending any money or accepting any services.

Post: #10

Damn...they stamp passports now? This is definitely new! I wouldn't worry too much about it though. It's an old law that is not enforced anymore. There are thousands of Americans fly to Cuba every year without license and there is NOT ONE case of prosecution in the past...many years!
You can lie and tell them you have a son in Cuba ( they can't check it anyways) - then you are exempt from the rules and can spend money in Cuba.
You can just tell them straight up you went and had a good time - I am sure Treasury department is not going to do anything to you - they know ACLU has been patiently waiting for them many years to prosecute someone,anyone for traveling to Cuba! This is all cold war old...no one is interested in Cuba anymore.

Post: #11

(05-13-2014 12:25 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  Pitt, no because they usually stamp your visa. In cuba it's never been a problem. They just started stamping passports in April. The did not stamp my friends though. I asked the lady not to and she said "ok". I figured I was good but when I left the line I saw there was a stamp in it.

Cameltoe, it's actually illegal to receive free services from a cuban citizen as well.

Yeah, I think even if your going for education or visitting family you still need a license. Now there's nothing to stop you from going to a currency exchange and buying euros, pounds or canadian, however if you mention cuba to them they will not sell to you, at that point you have to show yourlicense and I believe your only allowed a certain allotment of money per day, ie if your going for 5 days you can bring 100 a day so 500 total.

Post: #12

(05-13-2014 12:25 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  Pitt, no because they usually stamp your visa. In cuba it's never been a problem. They just started stamping passports in April. The did not stamp my friends though. I asked the lady not to and she said "ok". I figured I was good but when I left the line I saw there was a stamp in it.

Cameltoe, it's actually illegal to receive free services from a cuban citizen as well.

Can I ask what the stamp looked like? Did it say 'Republica de Cuba" or was it non-descriptive?

Reason I ask is that many years ago a friend went there and they stamped his passport with two square logos that had airplane figures in them, but that was it, and he got in and out of the US fine. But I'm assuming you got the real stamp with all the trimmings...

Post: #13

@ InternationPlayboy: I was in Cuba last week and they also stamped my US passport but I did not even ask them not to. I don't care. I've read up and the US authorities don't care. Honestly it is none of their business so if they ask just say you are invoking your Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination and you will not answer any questions. They will let you off. Every internet resource I have checked indicates that since about 2008 the US govt has not prosecuted anyone for visiting Cuba without a license so it is all bullshit. Fuck them, they can go ask the NSA if they really want.

I am still traveling in the Caribbean and going back to the US in a few days and I plan on writing Cuba on my customs form and telling these bastards to fuck off if they ask anything about Cuba. FUCK THE US GOVERNMENT. They lie to us all the time so fuck them.

And in the unlikely situation they fine you just go find the sample reply letters from the ACLU etc available online demanding a hearing. You are entitled to due process so the government cannot just fine you for visiting Cuba without providing a hearing if you request one. Once you send the letter, they don't do anything as they never set up facilities to conduct any hearings. The whole thing is utter bullshit.

@ Akula: the stamp clearly says Republic of Cuba or something like that. It has the word Cuba in it.

Post: #14

You're right about the current administration not providing money for prosecutions of Cuba trips. Who knows what the next administration will think about that.

(05-15-2014 12:44 AM)nomadicdude Wrote:  @ InternationPlayboy: I was in Cuba last week and they also stamped my US passport but I did not even ask them not to. I don't care. I've read up and the US authorities don't care. Honestly it is none of their business so if they ask just say you are invoking your Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination and you will not answer any questions. They will let you off. Every internet resource I have checked indicates that since about 2008 the US govt has not prosecuted anyone for visiting Cuba without a license so it is all bullshit. Fuck them, they can go ask the NSA if they really want.

I am still traveling in the Caribbean and going back to the US in a few days and I plan on writing Cuba on my customs form and telling these bastards to fuck off if they ask anything about Cuba. FUCK THE US GOVERNMENT. They lie to us all the time so fuck them.

And in the unlikely situation they fine you just go find the sample reply letters from the ACLU etc available online demanding a hearing. You are entitled to due process so the government cannot just fine you for visiting Cuba without providing a hearing if you request one. Once you send the letter, they don't do anything as they never set up facilities to conduct any hearings. The whole thing is utter bullshit.

@ Akula: the stamp clearly says Republic of Cuba or something like that. It has the word Cuba in it.

Post: #15

(05-15-2014 10:00 AM)Gringuito Wrote:  You're right about the current administration not providing money for prosecutions of Cuba trips. Who knows what the next administration will think about that.

(05-15-2014 12:44 AM)nomadicdude Wrote:  @ InternationPlayboy: I was in Cuba last week and they also stamped my US passport but I did not even ask them not to. I don't care. I've read up and the US authorities don't care. Honestly it is none of their business so if they ask just say you are invoking your Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination and you will not answer any questions. They will let you off. Every internet resource I have checked indicates that since about 2008 the US govt has not prosecuted anyone for visiting Cuba without a license so it is all bullshit. Fuck them, they can go ask the NSA if they really want.

I am still traveling in the Caribbean and going back to the US in a few days and I plan on writing Cuba on my customs form and telling these bastards to fuck off if they ask anything about Cuba. FUCK THE US GOVERNMENT. They lie to us all the time so fuck them.

And in the unlikely situation they fine you just go find the sample reply letters from the ACLU etc available online demanding a hearing. You are entitled to due process so the government cannot just fine you for visiting Cuba without providing a hearing if you request one. Once you send the letter, they don't do anything as they never set up facilities to conduct any hearings. The whole thing is utter bullshit.

@ Akula: the stamp clearly says Republic of Cuba or something like that. It has the word Cuba in it.

My understanding was that no administration has ever properly funded the Treasury department agency responsible for enforcing Cuba fines so they have never set up a proper hearing mechanism to review cases in which people protest the fine. What happened during the Bush administration is that they pretended to get tough and sent people letters demanding payment for a 7.5k USD fine or something like that. Some people freaked out but all you had to do is reply to the letter saying you believe it is unconstitutional etc and you want a hearing. The govt NEVER has set up a way to conduct a hearing so they just close your file. The whole thing is stupid. Any way I will find out how things go in a few days when I fly back to the US. Ready to tell CBP to go fuck themselves if they push it.

Post: #16

(05-15-2014 12:44 AM)nomadicdude Wrote:  @ InternationPlayboy: I was in Cuba last week and they also stamped my US passport but I did not even ask them not to. I don't care. I've read up and the US authorities don't care. Honestly it is none of their business so if they ask just say you are invoking your Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination and you will not answer any questions. They will let you off. Every internet resource I have checked indicates that since about 2008 the US govt has not prosecuted anyone for visiting Cuba without a license so it is all bullshit. Fuck them, they can go ask the NSA if they really want.

I am still traveling in the Caribbean and going back to the US in a few days and I plan on writing Cuba on my customs form and telling these bastards to fuck off if they ask anything about Cuba. FUCK THE US GOVERNMENT. They lie to us all the time so fuck them.

And in the unlikely situation they fine you just go find the sample reply letters from the ACLU etc available online demanding a hearing. You are entitled to due process so the government cannot just fine you for visiting Cuba without providing a hearing if you request one. Once you send the letter, they don't do anything as they never set up facilities to conduct any hearings. The whole thing is utter bullshit.

@ Akula: the stamp clearly says Republic of Cuba or something like that. It has the word Cuba in it.

That's exactly the attitude I return home with! You don't even need to talk to those CBP guys...no fifth amendment bs, nothing. You are not being charged with anything to defend yourself. The less you talk to them the better!
By law however you are required to fill out that form stating which countries you visited.
I used to be rude to them and pretty much had " fuck you" attitude - but I found it's not worth your nerves. Just be polite and somewhat short with them. Chose women agents if you can.

Post: #17

UPDATE: I went through customs and did what others suggested online and wrote Cuba on my Customs form and admitted to the bastard CBP agent that I went to Cuba. He wrote down a lot of information and then sent me to secondary. This was in the Bahamas where you go through US immigration in country instead of the US. They don't have the usual set up where you go through immigration and then customs. You just go through immigration and if they want to inspect your bags then they send you to secondary. So they were sending a TON of people to secondary.

In secondary the bastard asked me again about Cuba. Where I went in Cuba. Where I stayed, the name of the place. I read to just take the 5th and not admit anything but I was like fuck this Nazi shit and just told him all this shit. He insisted they are not fining me but that could have just been typical police bullshit.

He asked me to open my bag and literally did a 5 second half ass inspection of it for Cuban cigars and then let me go. Still took an extra fucking hour and it was just retarded. The US government literally spends tens of millions a year inspecting travelers bags for Cuban cigars. It is ridiculous.

I somewhat wish I just told the guy to fuck off and refused to talk but everyone was pretty chill there so as long as they really aren't fining me I don't care. If I get a letter in two months fining me then I am going to be even more pissed off at these Nazi bastards.

Post: #18

A general question, not sure if anybody can answer this.

Let's say you enter a country and the immigration officer forgets to stamp your passport or give you any type of visa. Will you be able to leave the country if they see that your passport has not been stamped when you entered the country?

Post: #19

(05-18-2014 07:58 PM)pitt Wrote:  A general question, not sure if anybody can answer this.

Let's say you enter a country and the immigration officer forgets to stamp your passport or give you any type of visa. Will you be able to leave the country if they see that your passport has not been stamped when you entered the country?

Depends....

Some countries give you a little paper that you must turn in before leaving, usually when checking in to leave the country. If so, they don't care about the stamp, only the piece of paper.

Other countries they check for an entry stamp before you get an exit stamp.

Post: #20

They also may have a record of your entry in their computer system. Even third world countries nowadays have computers at border control.

Post: #21

I was in Cuba last year. Dont know if they stamped my passport or not I didnt bother to check.

Post: #22

Thanks for the input guys. I'm not really stressing it. I'm having a fucking blast here! Strange country to say the least, but awesome. People are super friendly. You have to be careful of hustlers, but I find it easy to do. Once you meet some good locals, you'll have a blast! Some local guy took me to his friends studio to lay down a guitar part for his new CD. Tons more cool stuff. Got lots to update on, but the Internet is mad expensive and can be hard to find. Right now where I'm staying, I don't even know where there is wifi within a mile. The hotel next to my casa has computers with Internet but I need wifi to make calls on viber etc. because calling the states is like $2/min! I'm here until Thursday and once I get to the DR I'll give you guys a full play by play. Hasta luego muchachos!

Post: #23

@InternationalPlayboy,

That's righteous, man. Get around safe and stay rooshing those chicks ooops I meant smashing those chicks :-)

Post: #24

The biggest down side to cuba unfortunately is banging. It's the easiest place in the world if you want to pay, but if not, it's not easy. It's tough to find girls that don't want money, especially if you're only here for a week or two. With more time I'm sure it's much easier once you find places to go. Hell, a lot of the cuban guys I'm meeting pay for it even. Even the suave ones. Another problem is girls who don't want money from you are sometimes scared to be seen with a foreigner in public because it's illegal for them to talk to foreigners. We were stopped by the police walking with local men even! It wasn't a problem for us but the police hassled them.

Regarding safety, it's SUPER safe. I've walked all hours of night and through super poor neighborhoods. Never once felt threatened. The states are more dangerous.

Post: #25

(05-18-2014 07:58 PM)pitt Wrote:  A general question, not sure if anybody can answer this.

Let's say you enter a country and the immigration officer forgets to stamp your passport or give you any type of visa. Will you be able to leave the country if they see that your passport has not been stamped when you entered the country?

Depends on the country. I think some countries don't even check. When I was flying to Scotland from Paris I went through immigration on the way out and when i held up my US passport the guy literally started laughing and waved me through. didn't even look at it. It was pretty bizarre actually.

Once I got to Scotland though the fucking immigration lady jammed me up for a good 5 minutes asking me every question possible. I honestly didn't think I would be allowed in. One issue was that I told her it was my 2nd time there. She then asked me why I didn't have a Scotland stamp. I had to explain to her that previously I had flown in to Dublin first and when I flew to Glasgow from Dublin there was no one to even check my passport.