U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden and his wife are seeking dual American-Russian citizenship so they don't have to separate from their son as a result of the pandemic.
Lindsay Snowden, who has been living with Edward Snowden in Russia, is pregnant and expecting in late December, the RIA news agency quoted Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena saying.
A former contractor with the U.S. National Security Agency, Snowden has been living in Russia since 2013 to avoid espionage charges in the U.S. after exposing secret files detailing government surveillance.
In October a Virginia federal court ruled Snowden must pay the U.S. government $5 million from book royalties stemming from his 2019 autobiography "Permanent Record."
Russia granted him permanent residency in October, Kucherena said.
"After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son. That's why in an era of pandemics we are applying for dual U.S.-Russian citizenship," the New York Post quoted him as saying in a tweet.
Snowden's lawyer told the Interfax news agency that paperwork for getting his client a Russian passport would start soon. Snowden can get a Russian passport without renouncing his American citizenship. Previous Russian immigration policy required foreigners to relinquish other nationalities.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in August he was thinking about pardoning Snowden.
Snowden said he and his wife will remain Americans, "raising our son with all the values of the America we love - including the freedom to speak his mind," the Newcastle Herald reported. He added that he looked forward to the day that he can go back to the U.S. and reunite with his family.
