Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Grant of Section 243(g) Waiver for Marina Oswald

The Immigration and Naturalization Service reversed its initial position and granted the section 243(g) waiver for Marina Oswald on May 9, 1962. A letter from the INS stated that the matter had been “carefully reviewed in this office” and that, in view of the strong representations made in the March 27 letter, the sanctions imposed pursuant to section 243(g) were waived in behalf of Mrs. Oswald. The State Department’s Office of Soviet Affairs had informally learned on May 8 that the letter would be signed the following day, and the State Department quickly telegraphed the Moscow Embassy reporting that the waiver had been granted. Marina Oswald completed her processing when she, her husband, and daughter came to Moscow in May 1962 on their way from Minsk to the United States.

Legal Justification for Decisions Affecting Marina Oswald

The legal justification for the decisions affecting Marina Oswald rested on four main grounds: her status as the wife of a U.S. citizen under section 205 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952; the assurance, supported by Lee Harvey Oswald’s affidavit, that she would not become a public charge under section 212(a)(15); her membership in a Communist organization under section 212(a)(28), which was held not to bar her admission; and the waiver of the section 243(g) sanctions that had been imposed against the Soviet Union. Each of these justifications is analyzed in turn in the following sections.

Marina Oswald as U.S. Citizen’s Wife

Marina Oswald’s status as the wife of a U.S. citizen was established under section 205 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which provides for the admission into the United States of persons married to American citizens. Lee Harvey Oswald’s American citizenship was established once it was determined that he was born in the United States and had not expatriated himself. Marina Oswald submitted a marriage certificate to show that she was his wife, thereby satisfying the statutory requirement.

Assurance Marina Oswald Would Not Become Public Charge

Section 212(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides that aliens will not be admitted to the United States if, in the opinion of the responsible Government official, they are likely at any time to become public charges. The pertinent Department of State regulations require that such a determination be predicated upon circumstances indicating that the alien will probably become a charge upon the public after entry. In 1962, Lee Harvey Oswald was 22 years old and in good health, had lived in the United States for 17 years before joining the Marine Corps, and had gained two and a half years of job experience in a factory producing electronic equipment. Under these circumstances, the Department concluded that Oswald’s affidavit that he would support his wife was sufficient assurance that she was not likely to become a public charge. A second affidavit from Marguerite Oswald’s employer provided a possible alternative basis, but the Embassy had no reason to consider its sufficiency because a favorable ruling had already been made on the basis of Oswald’s affidavit.

Marina Oswald’s Communist Organization Membership

Under section 212(a)(28) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, an alien is not admissible to the United States if a member of, or affiliated with, a Communist organization, unless the alien establishes that such membership was involuntary, occurred solely when under sixteen years of age, or was for the purpose of obtaining employment, food rations, or other essentials of living. At the time she applied for a visa, Marina Oswald was a member of the Soviet Trade Union for Medical Workers. The State and Justice Departments had a long-standing interpretation that membership in a professional organization or trade union behind the Iron Curtain is considered involuntary unless accompanied by some indication of voluntariness, such as active participation or holding office. Because there was no evidence of such voluntariness, her union membership was properly held not to bar her admission. Although Marina Oswald declared she was not a member of the Komsomol or any other Communist organization, she was in fact a member of the Komsomol. Had this fact been known, she would not necessarily have been denied a visa but a careful investigation would have been required. If the membership had become known after her denial, she could have been excluded for willful misrepresentation of a material fact. The text notes that judicial decisions disagree on what constitutes a material fact for this purpose, and that the Visa Office applies a “rule of probability” under which a misstatement is material only if it concealed facts which probably would have resulted in a denial of a visa.