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

Expatriation: Formal U.S. Nationality Renunciation

Section 349(a)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides that a U.S. citizen loses their citizenship by making a formal renunciation of nationality before a U.S. diplomatic or consular officer in a foreign state, in the form prescribed by the Secretary of State. Implementing regulations require 4 copies of the renunciation form to be executed, with the original and one copy sent to the State Department for approval. Once approved, the consular official provides a copy of the form to the individual, who must sign it in the presence of the consular official, who also signs the form. Oswald never completed this formal renunciation process, so he did not lose U.S. citizenship under this provision.

第二章 With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the

chapter II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the This chapter examines two principal matters: (1) whether Lee Harvey Oswald expatriated himself through his actions in the Soviet Union between October 1959 and May 1962, and (2) the procedures by which his wife Marina Oswald obtained authorization to enter the United States. The Commission concludes that Oswald did not expatriate himself under any applicable statutory provision, and traces the multi-agency process—including the State Department, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and various security agencies—that ultimately resulted in the issuance of an immigrant visa to Marina Oswald.

Oswald’s Failed Citizenship Renunciation

Oswald’s Failed Citizenship Renunciation Section 349(a)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act requires compliance with specific forms and procedures prescribed by the Secretary of State for a U.S. citizen to renounce citizenship. Although Oswald stated to American Embassy officials in 1959, both orally and in writing, that he desired to renounce his citizenship, he did not execute the proper forms and did not sign his letters of October 31 or November 3, 1959, in the presence of a consular official. Because the statutory requirements were not satisfied, Oswald did not expatriate himself under section 349(a)(6).