Nicaragua ended visa-free entry for Cuban citizens with ordinary passports on February 8, 2026, shifting them from Category A to Category C and requiring advance approval under a consulted-visa process.
The change took immediate effect on February 8, 2026, a Sunday, and it reclassified Cubans with ordinary passports from Category A (visa-exempt) to Category C (consulted visas approved in advance at no fee).
Nicaraguan authorities moved quickly to operationalize the new rule, notifying the Cuban consular representation, Nicaraguan consulates abroad, the National Institute of Civil Aviation, and land and maritime transport companies to enforce it and bar boarding without prior approval.
Nicaragua enacted the policy through Disposition 001-2026, signed by General Commissioner Juan Emilio Rivas, Director General of Migration and Foreign Affairs at Nicaragua’s Ministry of the Interior.
For Cuban citizens traveling on ordinary passports, the core shift is that they can no longer rely on visa-free entry and must secure Category C approval before travel, with denial possible if migration authorities reject the request.
The classification matters in practical terms because it moves the decision point forward, from arrival to pre-travel, leaving travelers dependent on an approval that carriers must verify before they allow boarding.
Nicaragua described the Category C path as consulted visas approved in advance at no fee, and the policy summary included the phrase “No consular fee.”
The reclassification applies only to Cuban citizens holding ordinary passports, while diplomatic or official passports remain under separate rules, with no announced changes.
While Nicaragua set out the new requirement and the enforcement notifications, key operational details remained uncertain for travelers, including processing timelines and the permitted length of stay under the new Category C process.
Under the prior framework, the visa-free policy allowed up to 90 days, but the new process did not specify timelines or stay limits, leaving travelers trying to plan without clear answers.
The reversal rolls back a November 2021 visa-free opening that Nicaragua’s government had presented as a “humanitarian” measure linked to tourism, family ties and trade.
Nicaragua introduced that policy under the regime of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, using language that framed the move around travel and connections rather than migration enforcement.
Regional migration patterns later intersected with the visa-free policy, as the earlier arrangement fueled migration routes through Nicaragua to the United States via smugglers, Central America and Mexico.
Nicaragua’s decision to end visa-free entry for Cuban citizens with ordinary passports also came amid reported U.S. pressure to curb irregular migration to the United States.
The United States, under the Trump administration, criticized the earlier policy as enabling migrant smuggling and trafficking for Nicaragua’s gain.
Washington’s actions included 2024 sanctions on air charter companies and entrepreneurs facilitating migration.
The United States also imposed January 2025 visa restrictions and November 2025 sanctions on Nicaraguans aiding illegal flows, including visa revocations.
Those measures formed part of a broader U.S. enforcement posture that, in practice, can shape how transport companies and intermediaries handle document checks, especially when governments signal that boarding without approvals is not permitted.
Nicaragua’s enforcement notice explicitly put carriers and transport companies in the chain of compliance, reinforcing that travelers without prior approval could face denied boarding before they ever reached a border checkpoint.
The policy shift also unfolded alongside political developments that heightened pressure on Nicaragua’s regional alliances.
Pressure intensified after U.S. military operations captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, an ally of Ortega.
The account also referenced a December 2025 “new Monroe Doctrine” asserting U.S. hegemony and new tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Cuban officials post-capture, according to the same account.
Separately, the United States pressed Nicaragua on political prisoner releases, and Nicaragua freed dozens in early January 2026.
For travelers, the immediate consequence of this wider environment is less about diplomatic messaging and more about how quickly entry rules can change, including sudden moves away from visa-free entry with little time to adjust plans.
Nicaragua’s use of a consulted-visa approach places decision-making with migration authorities before travel, and the government’s notifications to aviation and transport bodies point to a system designed to stop travel from starting without approval.
That design can create bottlenecks when travelers try to travel on short notice, because ticketing and check-in become tied to proof that the consulted process has cleared.
The new Category C requirement also changes expectations at the border, because travelers who arrive without the required advance approval should not reach a Nicaraguan inspection point if carriers comply with the instruction to bar boarding.
Even with carrier enforcement, the shift can still disrupt travelers who booked under the earlier regime, including those who expected to enter under visa-free entry and now face a requirement that depends on prior approval.
Dozens of Cubans protested outside Nicaragua’s embassy in Havana on February 9, 2026, a day after the new rule took effect, as travelers faced uncertainty on processing.
The protest signaled confusion and disruption among people who had relied on the earlier pathway and now confronted a new administrative requirement for travel.
Nicaragua’s notice to consulates abroad also places consular channels in the center of enforcement, since travelers will look to those posts for guidance on how to obtain Category C approval and what the process requires.
At airports and other departure points, the combination of a consulted-visa requirement and an instruction to bar boarding without approval can make airline and carrier checks the first practical point of enforcement.
For Cuban citizens, the distinction between ordinary passports and diplomatic or official passports also becomes more consequential, because Nicaragua’s change targeted ordinary passports while leaving other categories under separate rules.
The consulted-visa label also signals a different form of permission than visa-free entry, because it requires an affirmative decision in advance rather than allowing the traveler to proceed as visa-exempt.
Nicaragua’s action aligns with broader U.S. efforts against migration “demographic weapons” used by Ortega, as described in the account of the dispute.
The United States framed its objections in terms of concerns about migrant smuggling and trafficking and facilitation networks, linking travel channels to irregular migration toward the United States.
Nicaragua’s rollback of visa-free entry for Cuban citizens with ordinary passports therefore fits a pattern in which travel permissions become a lever for migration control, including through tighter pre-travel screening and stronger carrier obligations.
For families and travelers trying to transit the region, the episode underscores the practical risks of policy volatility, because a route that functioned one week under visa-free entry can change overnight into one that requires advance approval.
The fact that the policy took effect on February 8, 2026, the day it was issued, also highlights how little buffer travelers may have between an announcement and enforcement, especially when authorities notify aviation bodies and transport companies immediately.
By placing carriers under instruction to bar boarding without prior approval, Nicaragua’s government also shifted risk onto travelers, who can face disruption before departure if they lack the required Category C clearance.
The new requirement leaves Cuban citizens holding ordinary passports with a single operational reality: they must secure Category C approval in advance, even though the process timelines and permitted length of stay under the new regime remain unspecified.
As the protests in Havana showed on February 9, 2026, uncertainty around processing can matter as much as the rule itself when travelers try to make plans, reunite with family, or move along routes that previously relied on Nicaragua’s visa-free entry policy.
