How to send a remittance to Cuba in 2026
Family, donative and private-sector support remittances under 31 CFR §515.570 — who can send, who can receive, and the five steps from a U.S. card to CUP in Cuba.
Who this is for: U.S. persons sending money to family, friends or an entrepreneur in Cuba
Yes — a U.S. person can still send money to Cuba. The September 30, 2026 rule left §515.570 in place — only paragraph (d), on remittances to students, was reworded: family remittances to close relatives, donative remittances to individuals, and support remittances to independent entrepreneurs remain authorized. What the rule changed is that an indirect transaction with a Cuba Restricted List entity anywhere in the path is now prohibited (§515.209; OFAC FAQ 735). The older conditions stand: the recipient may not be a prohibited official or Communist Party member, or a close relative of one (§515.339; §515.570(a)(2), (b)(2)); the funds may not come from a blocked source; and a remittance may not fund emigration or an investment.
Is it allowed? The legal authority
- Who sends
- A U.S. person — 18 or older for family and donative remittances (§515.570(a), (b)(4)) — identity-verified and screened against the SDN List and the Cuba Restricted List; self-certifying, not a determination.
- Who receives
- A close relative, a Cuban national, or a genuinely independent private-sector entrepreneur (§515.340) — never a prohibited Government of Cuba official or prohibited Party member.
31 CFR §515.570(a) family · (b) donative · (g)(3) private-sector remittances
Step by step
- 1Verify your identity on QvaPay (government ID, selfie). You must be 18 or older for family and donative remittances (§515.570(a), (b)(4)).
- 2Fund your balance by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Cash App. Choose the purpose on the funding row: family, donative or private-sector support.
- 3Enter the recipient — name, carnet number, phone. Sentinel screens them against the SDN List and the Cuba Restricted List, with a signed attestation and open-source review that they are not a prohibited official or Party member (§515.337/.338), before anything moves.
- 4Send in QUSD. The recipient sees it in their QvaPay balance — a payment obligation of QvaPay, Inc. held in the United States, not a bank deposit — within minutes.
- 5The recipient converts QUSD to CUP on QvaPay's peer-to-peer market, with a verified peer — an account holder subject to screening and volume limits; the peso side settles between the two of them, outside QvaPay, which has no relationship with any Cuban bank or regime processor.
- 6Keep your receipt and purpose evidence for ten years — 31 CFR §501.601 requires that of you, not only of QvaPay. For transfers of $3,000 or more QvaPay records sender and recipient details under the BSA recordkeeping rule (31 CFR §1010.410(e)) and retains them for five years (§1010.430).
See how QvaPay does itP2P leg terminates in Cuba
- QvaPay has no account or settlement relationship with any Cuban bank — the dollars stay in the U.S.-held balance until an independent Cuban peer buys them.
- No FINCIMEX or other state remittance processor anywhere in the chain.
- QvaPay never holds or moves pesos; the peso side is the trader's own money, already in Cuba.
The CUP/MLC side of a peer trade is settled between the two peers outside QvaPay — in cash or through the peer's own Cuban bank account. QvaPay does not hold, move, see or certify that leg; it records only the QUSD side. Peers trade their own funds, declare their activity, are limited in volume against it and are reviewed when they exceed it; a peer located in the United States may not trade on the market. Crypto funding is accepted only in USDC from screened wallet addresses; inflows from unhosted wallets receive source-of-funds review, and the same $3,000 recordkeeping applies.
Screened: Sender and recipient screened at funding and at transfer; the peer is a verified account holder — screened, with volume limits against declared activity; §515.337/338 attestation on the recipient.
Describes the example rail's design; not a determination that any transfer is authorized. The P2P leg, explained →
- ✓Government ID of the sender (identity verification at sign-up).
- ✓Recipient's full name, Cuban ID (carnet) number and phone — the rail screens them before release.
- ✓Purpose attestation on the funding row: family, donative or private-sector support.
- ✓For support remittances (§515.570(g)(3)): the recipient's independent-status evidence — self-employment licence (TCP), MIPYME registration or a client contract.
- ✕Send to a prohibited Government of Cuba official or prohibited Communist Party member (§515.337, §515.338), or to a close relative of one (§515.339) — the recipient fails screening.
- ✕Send funds from a blocked source, or to fund emigration (the separate two-payment emigration remittance at §515.570(e) has its own limits).
- ✕Route through any entity on the Cuba Restricted List, directly or as an intermediary (§515.209, indirect transactions prohibited since September 30, 2026).
- ✕Use the remittance to fund a business you own or control in Cuba — a remittance is support, not equity.
- ✕Try to route around these rules — split payments, use a conduit, pay through an unidentified third party. Such attempts are refused and may be reported as the Bank Secrecy Act requires (31 CFR §1022.320).
God Bless Cuba — fourteen donors in Union Citycomposite illustration
Fourteen parishioners of God Bless Cuba in Union City each send their own donative remittance from their own verified QvaPay account — $300 each, $4,200 in total, to fourteen screened beneficiary households. Each donor records her own purpose attestation on her own funding: donative remittance for food and medicine, no household connected to the Government of Cuba. Each donor funds and sends her own remittance from her own account; the parish does not collect, hold or forward funds and is not a remittance forwarder.
Every donor is identity-verified and 18 or older, as §515.570(b)(4) requires. Each named beneficiary is screened against the SDN list and the Cuba Restricted List, and against the prohibited-official and Party-member definitions at §515.337 and §515.338. Two names came back needing a second identifier; the donors supplied carné numbers and both cleared.
Each household sells its own QUSD balance to a peer of its choosing. Ofelia Guerra sells hers to Yaneisy Cabrera, who pays her in CUP from her own money at the rate she quoted that morning. Yaneisy is a verified account holder — screened, with volume limits against her declared activity and enhanced review above them. What reaches Ofelia is Yaneisy's money; what Yaneisy receives is the QUSD balance Ofelia's donor sent.
No foreign funds entered a Cuban bank, and QvaPay has no account or settlement relationship with any Cuban bank or regime payment processor. The peso side is Yaneisy's own money; it settles between the two of them, outside QvaPay, which records only the QUSD side.
No foreign funds in any Cuban state bank, and no QvaPay relationship with one. No FINCIMEX or other regime payment processor. No state-owned remittance operator. The value moved from each donor's own U.S. account to her own QvaPay balance, to the beneficiary's balance, to an independent Cuban peer, and from that peer's own cash to the beneficiary.
- Identity verification (government ID and selfie) and screening on all fourteen donors and every named beneficiary — for persons in Cuba, verification is documentary and residence is attested
- SDN and Cuba Restricted List screening on both ends
- Prohibited-official and Party-member filter (§515.337, §515.338)
- Donor age verification (§515.570(b)(4))
- Purpose attestation on each donor's own funding
- The peer is a verified account holder: screened, with volume limits against declared activity
Composite illustration based on real QvaPay transaction patterns. Names, amounts and identifying details have been changed. Not a determination that any transaction is authorized.
Common questions
Is there a limit on remittances to Cuba?+
No dollar cap applies to family or donative remittances under §515.570(a) and (b); the $1,000-per-quarter cap imposed in October 2019 was removed in June 2022 (87 FR 35088) and the September 30, 2026 rule did not reinstate it. QvaPay applies internal limits and reviews large or unusual activity.
Can I send money to a friend who is not family?+
Yes — as a donative remittance to an individual (§515.570(b)), provided the recipient is not a prohibited official or Party member.
Does the recipient need a bank account in Cuba?+
No. The recipient needs a QvaPay account; conversion to CUP or MLC happens peer-to-peer on the platform, outside the Cuban state banking system.
Open QvaPay and follow the steps above. If you are a business, an exporter or an organization, write to us and we onboard you case by case.
QvaPay, Inc. is a FinCEN-registered money services business (MSB No. 31000329382692) providing payment services; it is not a bank. A QUSD balance is a payment obligation of QvaPay, Inc., held in the United States — not a bank deposit and not FDIC-insured. QvaPay forwards remittances under 31 CFR §515.572(a)(3) and processes authorized payments as transactions ordinarily incident under §515.421 (OFAC FAQ 756); the standing of balances held for persons in Cuba is among the questions put to OFAC in QvaPay's pending request for interpretive guidance (Case CU-2025-1426925-1).
This guide is general information, not legal advice and not a determination that any transaction is authorized. Rules change; the update date is above. Keep your own records for ten years (31 CFR §501.601).