Not as close as you might think. Yesterday, I wrote on the update to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (“CACR”) by the United States Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and how it effected travel to Cuba.

Prior to the changes ordered by President Obama, travel to Cuba was typically done pursuant to a specific license granted by OFAC. Now, with the new changes in place, there is a general license whereby U.S. persons can travel to Cuba if they are traveling to visit a close relative. But how close is close?

Typically, OFAC does not offer very clear definitions, which often times leads to what has been called by others working in this field “regulation through ambiguity”. However, in the case of the Cuban close relative definition, OFAC has been clear and has even offered some examples.

According to 31 C.F.R. 515.339, a close relative includes any person related by blood, marriage, or adoption who is not more than three generations from the person or a common ancestor. Thus individuals such as one’s mother’s first cousin would be considered a close relative.

Similar examples offered by the regulations include one’s spouse’s
great-grandson as a close relative because he is no more than three generations removed from the spouse.

However, the regulations offer an example of what is not a close relative by stating that one’s daughter’s father-in-law is not a close relative, because they have no common ancestor.

What is the end result of this “close relative” definition? For one, the move will vastly open up travel to Cuba. The breadth of the definition will allow for a large number of Cuban-Americans who have been wanting to travel to Cuba, but were concerned about obtaining a specific license, the opportunity to do so without fear.

Second, considering that a large number of OFAC penalties and settlements have traditionally been aimed at violators of the Cuba travel ban, this is a major step for OFAC, in that they will now have more resources freed up to focus on the enforcement of other sanctions regulations; in particular those dealing with counter narcotics trafficking, which seems to be this year’s trend.

If you feel that you may have violated any OFAC administered regulations or seek assistance in complying with those regulations please contact the author at 202-280-6370 or by email at info@ferrari-legal.com