The Embassy’s response to this letter was to invite Oswald to come personally to Moscow to discuss the matter.[C6-253] Oswald at first protested because of the difficulty of obtaining Soviet permission.[C6-254] He wrote two more protesting letters during the following 4 months,[C6-255] but received no indication that the Embassy would allow him to handle the matter by mail.[C6-256] While the Department of State was clarifying its position on this matter,[C6-257] Oswald unexpectedly appeared in Moscow on Saturday, July 8, 1961.[C6-258] On Sunday, Marina Oswald flew to Moscow,[C6-259] and was interviewed by officials in the American Embassy on Tuesday.[C6-260] The Commission asked the Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency to comment on whether the Oswalds’ travel to Moscow without permission signified special treatment by the Soviet Union. From their responses, it appears that since Marina Oswald possessed a Soviet citizen’s internal passport, she did not require prior approval to make the trip.[C6-261] Although Soviet law did require her husband, as the holder of a “stateless passport,” to obtain advance permission for the trip, his failure to do so would not normally have been considered a serious violation. In this respect, the CIA has advised the Commission as follows: OSWALD’S travel from Minsk to Moscow and return in July 1961 would normally have required prior authorization. Bearers of a Soviet “passport for foreigners” (_vid na zhitelstov v. SSSR dlya innostrantsa_) are required to obtain travel authorization from the Visa and Registration Department (OVIR) (or Passport Registration Department (PRO) in smaller towns) if they desire to leave the city (or oblast) where they are domiciled. This same requirement is believed to apply to persons, such as OSWALD, holding Soviet “stateless passports” (_vid na zhitelstvo_ v. _SSSR dlya lits bez grazhdanstva_). The practicality of even “unauthorized” travel was demonstrated by events related by a United States citizen who defected in 1960, and subsequently was sent to Kiev to study. After repatriating this defector told U.S. authorities he had made a total of seven unauthorized trips from Kiev during his stay in the USSR. He was apprehended on two of his flights and was returned to Kiev each time, the second time under escort. On both occasions he was merely reprimanded by the deputy chief of the institute at which he was studying. Since Marina had a Soviet citizen’s internal passport there would have been no restrictions against her making the trip to Moscow.[C6-262] The answers of the Department of State, together with the Commission’s specific questions, are as follows: B. Could resident foreigners normally travel in this manner without first obtaining such permission?