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

Subsequent Correspondence and Final Passport Issuance

In an October 12, 1961 dispatch, the Embassy informed the State Department it had received four letters from Oswald (dated July 15, August 8, October 4, and an undated August letter) reporting difficulty obtaining exit visas for himself and Marina, and that they faced increasing harassment in Minsk. The Embassy replied it could not influence Soviet exit visa decisions, told Oswald he could discuss passport renewal in person at the Embassy, and notified him his wife’s immigration status petition had not yet been approved. The State Department approved the Embassy’s response on December 28, 1961. After further correspondence addressing Soviet exit delays, approval of Marina’s U.S. entry, and Oswald’s request for a repatriation loan, the Embassy renewed Oswald’s passport for 30 days on May 24, 1962, stamped it valid only for direct return to the U.S., and handed it to him in person. He used the passport to return to the U.S. one week later.

Legal Justification for the Return and Reissue of Oswald’s Passport

As a U.S. citizen by birth, Oswald could only lose his citizenship by committing acts specified by federal law. The State Department determined he had not committed any expatriating acts: he never received Soviet naturalization, never formally renounced his U.S. nationality before a U.S. consular officer in the required legal form, never took an oath of allegiance to the Soviet Union, and never worked for the Soviet government in a role requiring such an oath.

Expatriation: Foreign State Naturalization

Under Section 349(a)(1) of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, a U.S. citizen loses their nationality by obtaining naturalization in a foreign state on their own application. Although Oswald applied for Soviet citizenship, he never received it, so he did not expatriate himself under this provision.