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

Oswald’s Unannounced July 1961 Embassy Visit and Interview

On July 8, 1961, Oswald appeared unannounced at the Moscow Embassy, met with consul Richard E. Snyder who asked him to return on July 10. Oswald contacted his wife to travel to Moscow, and returned alone on July 10 for an official interview. Snyder’s post-interview memorandum noted Oswald appeared more mature than during his 1959 Embassy visit, stated he had only applied for Soviet residence (not citizenship), never took an oath of allegiance to the Soviet Union, worked as a metal worker in Minsk earning 90 rubles monthly, had saved 200 rubles for travel to the U.S., and denied making derogatory statements about the U.S. or providing information to the Soviets as he had threatened in 1959.

Oswald’s Passport Renewal Application and Questionnaire

During the July 10 interview, Oswald completed an application to renew his American passport, which was set to expire on September 10, 1961, and he was highly unlikely to obtain the required Soviet exit documents before that date. The application included a list of acts that could disqualify an applicant for a passport due to loss of U.S. citizenship. One carbon copy of the application showed Oswald signed after the “have not” option was struck through, possibly indicating he admitted to committing a disqualifying act (potentially swearing allegiance to a foreign state), though Snyder could not confirm this and noted it may have been a clerical error. Oswald also completed a required supplementary questionnaire for applicants who acknowledged possible expatriating acts, answering that he was recognized as an American national in the USSR, had not sought foreign nationality registration, had not taken an oath of allegiance to a foreign state, and did not consider his factory employment to be foreign government service.