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

1959 Passport Return and Renewal

This section covers the administrative context and initial steps related to Lee Harvey Oswald’s request to recover his originally issued 1959 U.S. passport after his relocation to the Soviet Union, including U.S. government responses to family inquiries about his status and his formal request for passport return to facilitate his departure from the Soviet Union and return to the United States.

Oswald-Embassy Passport Negotiations

The formal negotiations between Oswald and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow over his passport return request began after Oswald’s mother visited the State Department on January 25, 1961, to ask for help locating her son. On February 1, 1961, the State Department requested the Moscow Embassy inform the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Mrs. Oswald was concerned for her son’s safety and wished to hear from him; the request arrived in Moscow via diplomatic pouch on February 10 or 11, 1961. Before the Embassy could act on the request, it received an undated letter from Oswald postmarked Minsk on February 5, 1961, in which he formally requested the return of his U.S. passport, stating he wished to return to the United States if an agreement could be reached to drop any legal proceedings against him, as he believed a valid U.S. passport would help him secure a Soviet exit visa. He noted he had not been required to take Soviet citizenship, was living in Minsk with non-permanent foreigner documentation, and could not leave the city without official permission. The Embassy replied on February 28, 1961, informing Oswald he would need to travel to Moscow in person to discuss passport and expatriation matters. Oswald responded with a letter dated March 12, 1961, received by the Embassy on March 20, objecting to the requirement to travel to Moscow, citing the lengthy and difficult process of obtaining permission to leave Minsk, and requesting that any preliminary questions be sent to him in questionnaire form instead. The provided source text cuts off at the end of this correspondence.