Representative Ford.

table, or you asked for it, did you note that he had overstayed his visa by 5 days?

Mr. Snyder.

I can’t recall that I did or did not, Mr. Ford.

Representative Ford.

Is that something that you would normally examine and determine under circumstances like this?

Mr. Snyder.

Oh, I might if there were some reason to look at it---if it were particularly relevant to something I was thinking at the time or asking about at the time.
In terms of Soviet practice, it is not really too relevant. That is, if the Soviet authorities find it to their interest to keep a person around, then there is no problem. And if they do not, one does not overstay one’s visa in the Soviet Union.

Representative Ford.

But if it is, for some Soviet reason, a good reason to keep somebody around beyond the time of their visa, wouldn’t that be of some interest to us--I mean to the United States officials?

Mr. Snyder.

Oh, yes; but, of course, that assumption was already strongly made in the Oswald case by other circumstances in this case. There was no question in my mind that Mr. Oswald was there in Moscow for the purposes for which he stated he was in Moscow, and that this was known to the Soviet authorities, for he said he had applied for Soviet citizenship.

Representative Ford.

Is it the usual thing for them to let an individual stay beyond their visa termination date?

Mr. Snyder.

Well, I would say it is not usual. Again, one can never cite a list of specific instances in these things, but I think that when you are working as a consul in Moscow for a couple of years, you have a considerable feel for these things, and that I would say it is not unusual--people simply do not overstay their visas in the Soviet Union without the knowledge, by and large, of the Soviet authorities.
And this is because of the nature of the passport registration system at your hotel, and all of this sort of thing. It simply is not normally done be oversight or by lapse either on the part of the individual or on the part of the Soviet State.

Representative Ford.

When he presented the passport, or when you were given the passport by him, did you examine it?

Mr. Snyder.

I undoubtedly examined it.

Representative Ford.

Where in the passport would this fact be noted that he had overstayed his visa by 5 days?
(At this point, Senator Cooper entered the hearing room.)

Mr. Snyder.

It may either be on the original visa or on the police stamp placed in his passport at the time. This is to the best of my recollection.

Mr. Coleman.

Congressman Ford, as I understand it, one of the stamps in the passport, which would be in Russian, indicates the visa that he got in Helsinki, and also indicates the length of time he was permitted to stay.

Representative Ford.

So it is clearly a Soviet document in the passport?

Mr. Coleman.

Yes.

Mr. Snyder.

I could probably find these for you, if you would like.

Representative Ford.

When Oswald came in, did you notice anything peculiar about his physical appearance--any bruises, any injuries of any kind?

Mr. Snyder.

No, no; as I said--you may not have been here, Mr. Ford, at the time I made my original comments on his appearance.
He was very neatly dressed, very well composed, and to all outward appearances a respectable-looking young man.

Representative Ford.

I was there then, and I was interested because I think we have testimony to the effect, or we have documentation to the effect, that he had tried to commit suicide prior to his coming to the American Embassy for the purpose of renouncing his citizenship. In other words, he had cut his wrist and had been in a Soviet hospital or medical facility. And I was wondering whether you had noticed that.

Mr. Snyder.

No, sir; I did not.

Representative Ford.

You did not.

Mr. Coleman.

Mr. Snyder, on November 2 you sent forward Commission