Originally Posted by
ffay005
Meaning that the 1of12 paper can/will be filled out at HAV?
The airline may just put the info directly into their computer. They do this at departure from US for a RT flight.
(The checkbox form is usually on the same piece of paper as the tourist card application the airlines use by mail. Since you don't need the tourist card just to go one way to the US, you likely won't see "the paper".)
Originally Posted by
ffay005
Either the airline (AA in this case) or the authorities in the US. I'm thinking of the immigration officers here.
So basically I would have to lie to US officers if I were on a tourist trip in Cuba. And they would know or guess that I lie and do nothing about it. And nobody would bother to find out whether I'm telling the truth. Is that it?
I'm not worried about the Cuban authorities here. Surely they have nothing against the euros I will bring with me.
You would have to lie (or be clueless enough to believe you were fulfilling the criteria), just like most other US citizens, permanent residents and visitors departing from and/or returning to a US airport/port. And "they" would know, and have not done anything about it for years (OFAC) and have no resources to do so anyway (how could they "check" the movements of every tourist to/in a sovereign country?) , and/or it is not in their job description (CBP).
The airline wants your money, period, and do only what they must. Detective work is not included, just basic record keeping.
And I'd bet that most tourists couldn't accurately describe activities that fulfill the people to people category that most choose.
Define what OFAC means by "support for the Cuban people" , the other, more vague category commonly used.
Do some more research on the busy Cuba threads of the Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet travel forums. You are not the first to have asked this question since the direct flights started last September.