Did Oswald Go To Mexico City?

[Charles Collins]

Mr Freeman is correct.
The "Australian girls", commenting on Oswald"s passport and it's "Russian" stamps, are incorrect.
If you look closely at Oswalds's passport application, regarding his old passport, there is a box checked, indicating the applicant is turning in his old passport,...the one showing his travels out of The Soviet Union.

Show us the passport application. I recently renewed my passport and still have the old one. In fact, they recommended keeping the old passport (just in case something happened to the new one and it got lost in the mail or something). Maybe the process was different in 1963, but that was my recent experience...

[Tom Scully]

Show us the passport application. I recently renewed my passport and still have the old one. In fact, they recommended keeping the old passport (just in case something happened to the new one and it got lost in the mail or something). Maybe the process was different in 1963, but that was my recent experience...

When my passport expired in the 1980s, I submitted the expired one with the application. It was returned to me by mail. "Expired" was punched onto the cover.

Same as current policy....

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/passport-help/faqs.html
….
Will I receive my new passport and my documents back in one envelope?

Passport Book Only: You may receive your newly-issued passport and your citizenship documents (e.g. previous passport, birth certificate) separately. Please contact the National Passport Information Center (NPIC) if you do not receive a second mailing within 10 business days of receiving the first. We can send your passport book using a 1-2 day delivery service.
Passport Card Only: You may receive your newly-issued passport card and your citizenship documents (e.g. previous passport, birth certificate) separately. Please contact NPIC if you do not receive a second mailing within 10 business days of receiving the first. We only send the passport card via First Class Mail. We do not send cards using 1-2 day delivery services.
Passport Book and Card: You may receive three separate mailings; one with your citizenship documents (e.g. previous passport, birth certificate), one with your newly-issued passport book, and one with your newly-issued passport card. Please contact NPIC if you do not receive the second or third mailing within 10 business days of the previous mailing.

[Charles Collins]

When my passport expired in the 1980s, I submitted the expired one with the application. It was returned to me by mail. "Expired" was punched onto the cover.

Same as current policy....

Yes, my memory was a little off. Your post refreshed it. They sent them back separately. Thanks for the correction. The point is that LHO probably did show his old passport on the bus to Mexico City. Even if he turned it in with his application, he probably would have received it back.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Oswald's 1959 passport - 22 pages - can be viewed here:
 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth338438/m1/1/

In it you can see Soviet stamps, German stamps et cetera. And some of them from 1959 when he first arrived in Moscow. And others from 1962 when he left.

Questions: If he turned this in when he left the USSR, then why does it have a German stamp dated in 1962 when he was leaving? If he left it behind then it shouldn't have a German exit stamp. It sure appears to me that he kept it. If he was given a new one then why does this have the older, 1959 stamps on it? Pretty confusing.

Is this what he showed the Australian women?

This is from page #7:

[Charles Collins]

Oswald's 1959 passport - 22 pages - can be viewed here:
 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth338438/m1/1/

In it you can see Soviet stamps, German stamps et cetera. And some of them from 1959 when he first arrived in Moscow. And others from 1962 when he left.

Question: If he turned this in when he left the USSR, then why does it have a German stamp dated in 1962 when he was leaving? If he left it behind then it shouldn't have a German exit stamp. It sure appears to me that he kept it. Is this what he showed the Australian women?

This is from page #7:

If I remember correctly, LHO turned it in at the US Embassy in Moscow shortly after he arrived there. And requested it back when he decided he wanted to leave to go back to the USA. They gave it back to him (after some discussions). He needed it to be able to travel back to the US. In fact, I think that they specified that that was ALL it could be used for. And I am guessing that might be why he needed to renew it.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Charles: Correct, thanks for jumpstarting my memory. And I don't believe the Soviets confiscated it later and issued him a new one. If so then where did this come from?

As you can see if you go through it, it has 1959 stamps on it when he first arrived. And then it has 1962 stamps/dates - one German - when he left. So it seems logical to conclude that he didn't turn in his older 1959 passport and then was given a new one by the Soviets when he left. It has both 1959 and 1962 dates. This is clearly the passport he had when he arrived. And given back when he left.

If this is the passport then as you can see (page #7) there are Soviet "marks" on it. If he had this then it seems to me that it is probably (likely? possibly?) the passport that he showed the Australian women.

[Charles Collins]

Charles: Correct, thanks for jumpstarting my memory. As you can see if you go through it, it has 1959 stamps on it when he first arrived. And then it has 1962 stamps/dates - one German - when he left. So it seems logical to conclude that he didn't turn in his older 1959 passport. It has both 1959 and 1962 dates.

If this is the passport then as you can see (page #7) there are Soviet "marks" on it. If he had this then it seems to me that it is probably (likely? possibly?) the passport that he showed the Australian women.

I agree. The question that I was originally responding to was (I think) regarding when he applied for a new passport to replace the one he had in Russia (so he could travel to Mexico City). Someone, suggested that he checked a box on the application that indicated he turned in his old passport. And therefore wouldn’t have had it with him on the bus to Mexico City. It appears to me that he would have received it back with his new passport. And therefore could have had it with him to show others.