Soviet Enforcement of Travel Rules for Stateless Persons
The CIA informed the Commission that persons holding Soviet “stateless passports” were required to obtain travel authorization from the Visa and Registration Department (OVIR) or Passport Registration Department (PRO) in smaller towns if they desired to leave the city or oblast where they were domiciled. Despite this requirement, enforcement was often lax, with police at railroad stations spotchecking identification papers of approximately every tenth traveler. Persons caught evading registration requirements were typically returned to their home towns and sentenced to short jail terms and fines, with more severe sentences for repeated violations.
Oswald’s Passport Reinstatement and Embassy Negotiations
When Oswald arrived at the Embassy in Moscow, he met Richard E. Snyder, the same officer with whom he had dealt in October 1959. Primarily based on Oswald’s interview with Snyder on Monday, July 10, 1961, the American Embassy tentatively concluded that Oswald had not expatriated himself. On this basis, Oswald was given back his American passport, which he had surrendered in 1959. The document was due to expire in September 1961, and Oswald was informed that renewal would depend upon the ultimate State Department decision on expatriation. On July 11, Marina Oswald was interviewed and steps toward obtaining her American visa were begun. In May 1962, after 15 months of dealings, Oswald’s passport was renewed and permission for his wife to enter the United States was granted.
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