Moving to Cuba soon- How to make Money?

Hello Probs944,

So as to give more response to your post, I moved the latter to the Cuba Forum.

Good luck in your venture

Regards

Kenjee

Getting money to Cuba is not a problem. You can take up to $10,000 in cash and exchange at the Cadeca. Also you can transfer money from your bank to your fiances account in a Cuban bank. It is not possible for you to be employed in Cuba, but you won't miss Cuban earnings as the average is $20 per month with certain professions such as teaching receiving $30 per month. The old age pansion is 200 pesos per month ($8). When married you can live openly with your wife in her property. For the past 18 months it has no longer been necessary to obtain a personal visa from the Cuban Consulate (saving $128) a normal tourist visa will suffice, but renew it if staying over 3 months (25 CUC) at the local licence office. At six months you have to leave unless you have obtained permenent residence status - which can be a two edged sword. Cuba tracks its citizens and has a file on each of them. All any official requires is your fiances name and address and they can access the file on their office computer - in most democratic countries such action would be illegal. They even have a photograph!

Hi you can ask Les Walt on this forum....but if you leave in Toronto, there is a small shop that sends money

Thanks for inquiring and certainly do enjoy.....
Is your wife in Havana?

M

Thanks for the info. I will have my bank transfer my pension every month to my wife's account

No we will be living 25miles from Havana. The are is quite but can go into the city when we want

For the upper end budgets:

The Vedado and Miramar areas of Havana are some great places to look in to for purchasing a property specially if you enjoy city living, they are rather expensive compared to other parts of Havana but there may be great restoration opportunities for a good price.  ??.. This is a large section of the city and there certainly are many houses and properties which fall in to this category.  Here is a video I made which details part of this area of the city.  Hope you can see it, if not you can catch it in my youtube channel under Armando Ruiz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p … _6zua6x0n8

My friend and I are planning to leave Sept 17th from Toronto for Cuba.
As for making money, its not possible and not impossible.

What does Les Walt know that isn't covered by my response?

For me the easiest way to get money when I'm on a extended stay in Cuban is have my pension automatically put on my visa card which is very easy to if you have online banking and your CC is not associated with USA bank of course.

Rather than automatically placing your complete pension on to VISA, it is sensible to have your pension paid directly to your bank account and get the bank to automatically pay your monthly VISA account.
I spend long periods in Cuba and all my monthly accounts in Canada are paid directly by the bank - including VISA. This provides ease of mind, no overdue accounts and no interest charges.
I noted that one regular contributor to this forum is actively pursuing earning income in Cuba in combination apparently with Cubans and directing others to commercial interests. Anyone who considers such action should be aware of the associated perils of so-called corruption. Foreigners employing or entering into partnerships with Cubans expose themselves to the risk of prosecution and jail. For example Sherrit International a long term investor and partner with the Government of Cuba, pays the Government a substantial sum per annum for each Cuban employed in their activities. But, Sherrit do not pay the employees, the Government does so at a rate far below the payments made by Sherrit. Those who in their comparative innocence have made additional payments to Cubans engaged in their businesses have in several cases been jailed for corruption. Two British subjects and currently three Canadians.
Whereas I can sympathise with those who hope to turn their Cuban connections perhaps including blogs, to financial advantage, they should do so with their eyes open!

I have already done the bank Visa arrangement and I have no intention of working or trying to to make money in Cuba. My combined pensions will be more than enough to live well in Cuba

Yes my pension goes in to my regular account first and from there I preset set dates for my money to go on my visa..

I don't know about you but my budget is 1500.00 a month in Cuba...  with that a car rental 3-4 days a month and a few baseball games and some nice dinners.. I can do it comfortably for about 800-900 if I stay away from car rentals and use bus but we do both but I could not live there for 500-600 a month ..

My budget is better than 1500.00 and I do not need a rental car and accommodation is looked after , meals out are infrequent . I should be okay.

Can anyone here give actual total cost to achieve residence in Cuba..I know the procedure more less (prob less ja ja)  but with all the translations,police records,Medical records,financial stuff required...What is the actual cost in total to achieve this?  10,000 ??and what is the time frame to be approved or denied...thanks peeps

What approach do you take for medical coverage?  I know Cuba sells at airport medical plans starting at 2 cuc a day but have never talked or met anyone who has done this and would like to know when they had to use this coverage was it really successful..es Cuba

Ditto Probs944. As a pensioner I have found married life in Cuba satisfactory for several years. But I would not become a permanent resident - preferring to commute and use visas. There can be tax problems with certain countries if you live abroad and do not complete the annual returns and interest on overdue taxes is cumulative. Similarly there is an advantage in the casa in Cuba being in your wife's name as you have no tax liability in your own country whereas if you are owner or part owner it is treated as an asset for tax purposes.

Ricardo58: Do you mean permanent residence or part-time?
Secondly, if you are"visiting" Cuba rather than living there as a permanent resident, you should read the full response I gave to LesWalt regarding health insurance. As a Canadian your first insurer is your province, any private policy is the second insurer and not required legally by Cuba. You can show your provincial health card. The level of coverage is $50 per day out patient and $100 per day in-patient. So, if you make a claim on your second insurer they claim these sums from your province.