Normally, your arrival stamp would be placed on your Cuba Visa, a two-section document you would keep half of and turn in upon departure.
(However - on exiting Cuba 17 Nov 2013 my U S Passport was stamped with an exit stamp - on two different pages.) (I wrote in the OFAC license information directly under each exit stamp for USCBP and passport renewal ease.)
Good idea on disclosing to USCBP you have been to Cuba; it is legal for you. You can not bring anything from Cuba to the USA legally, other than informational / educational material (CDs, DVDs, books) and art.
Lying or omitting the information you had visited Cuba on your return to the US on your Customs Declaration is considered a violation of U S Code 18 Section 1001:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.
Not recommended; ask Martha Stewart, Bernard Madoff and other prominent figures. Particularly if you do not want to lose your J1 visa. And I suspect anyone believing the information is not available to the U S Government is naive and hasn't heard of Edward Snowden (or the CIA, which has been able to acquire such information easily from some other nations' government employees). The U S Government may have chosen not to prosecute (or persecute), but they
can.
As to
Originally Posted by
MAH4546
Americans visit Cuba by the hundreds of thousands every year illegally. Nobody gets in trouble for it. Cuban immigration officials don't stamp American passports and Cuba welcomes Americans with open arms. If you don't want to lie, then simply don't go (unless the terms of your visa allow you to legally go).
America actually is Cuba's second largest source of tourists after Canada, and that figure only includes Americans that come legally.
That is
seriously incorrect; I know people who have been fined thousands of dollars for visiting Cuba "through t he back door" (Mexico and Canada). OFAC / Treasury provides some significant sanctions and staying longer than one day is considered
prima facie evidence of violating OFAC (spending U S Dollars in Cuba) - they did not get the most severe penalties, up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, plus $65,000 in civil penalties (31 C.F.R. Part 515), but they did pay thousands for their travel and will not qualify for Global Entry, etc. People are free to incur risk, but they should know what those risks are, IMO.
Just one example - they can take their time about it, and a majority escape sanctions, but...
Originally Posted by USA Today (in part)
In the latest twist to the USA's 50-year-old trade sanctions against communist Cuba, a New York man has agreed to pay a $6,500 fine to end a long-running dispute with the U.S. Treasury Department over an unauthorized trip he made to the Caribbean "isla non grata" as a tourist 14 years ago.
Zachary Sanders, now 38, had been living and teaching English in Mexico when he decided to visit Cuba for a couple of weeks in 1998. According to Reuters, Sanders did not obtain the required U.S. Treasury license, and a U.S. Customs agent became suspicious when Sanders returned to the United States through the Bahamas without declaring he had been to Cuba.
I've posted a "sticky" with current requirements for U S Citizens and Residents who wish to visit Cuba.
By the way,
Spain and Canada are the two largest sources of tourists to Cuba, according to Cuban sources.
