Title 31
SECTION 515.505
515.505 Certain Cuban nationals unblocked.
§ 515.505 Certain Cuban nationals unblocked.(a) General license unblocking certain persons. The following persons are licensed as unblocked nationals, as that term is defined in § 515.307 of this part:
(1) Any individual national of Cuba who:
(i) Has taken up residence in the United States; and
(ii) Is a United States citizen; is a lawful permanent resident alien of the United States; has applied to become a lawful permanent resident alien of the United States and has an adjustment of status application pending; or is lawfully present and intending to lawfully remain in the United States on a permanent basis; and
(iii) Is not a prohibited official of the Government of Cuba, as defined in § 515.337 of this part, or a prohibited member of the Cuban Communist Party, as defined in § 515.338 of this part.
(2) Any individual national of Cuba who has taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba, provided that the required documentation specified in paragraph (c) of this section is obtained and the individual is not a prohibited official of the Government of Cuba, as defined in § 515.337, or a prohibited member of the Cuban Communist Party, as defined in § 515.338;
(3) Any entity that otherwise would be a national of Cuba solely because of the interest therein of one or more persons licensed in this paragraph (a) as an unblocked national;
(4) Any entity, office, or other sub-unit authorized pursuant to § 515.573; and
(5) Any individual authorized to establish domicile in Cuba pursuant to § 515.573(a)(4).
Note to § 515.505(a):An individual unblocked pursuant to this paragraph does not become blocked again merely by leaving the United States or the country in which he or she has taken up permanent residence. An individual unblocked national remains unblocked unless and until the individual thereafter becomes domiciled in or a permanent resident of Cuba.
(b) General license unblocking blocked accounts. Banking institutions, as defined in § 515.314, including U.S. registered brokers or dealers in securities and U.S. registered money transmitters, are authorized to unblock any blocked account, as defined in § 515.319, that had been previously blocked solely because of the interest therein of one or more persons licensed in paragraph (a) of this section as unblocked nationals.
(c) Required documentation. In determining whether an individual national of Cuba qualifies as an unblocked national under paragraph (a)(2) of this section, persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction must obtain evidence demonstrating that the individual satisfies the requirements of that paragraph. Such evidence may include copies of documents issued by government authorities demonstrating citizenship or lawful permanent residence in a third country. These could include, depending on the information provided in the document in question, a passport, voter registration card, permanent resident alien card, national identity card, or other similar documents. Where such documents are unavailable, persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction may also rely on evidence that the individual has been resident for the past two years without interruption in a single country outside of Cuba, or a sworn statement or other evidence that the individual does not intend to, or would not be welcome to, return to Cuba.
(d) For the purposes of paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the term “lawfully present and intending to lawfully remain in the United States on a permanent basis” includes an individual with a pending application for asylum or who has been paroled into the United States under Cuban Parole or Cuban Medical designations. It does not include anyone present in the United States in a non-immigrant status.
Note to § 515.505:See § 515.571 for the authorization of certain limited transactions incident to travel to, from, and within the United States by Cuban nationals who are present in the United States in a non-immigrant status or pursuant to other non-immigrant travel authorization issued by the U.S. government.
[80 FR 2292, Jan. 16, 2015, as amended at 80 FR 56919, Sept. 21, 2015; 81 FR 13991, Mar. 16, 2016]