M. Franz Romashevsky, Vice-Director of the Intourist Administration in Moscow, has explained in an interview with the J.T.A. representative here the position with regard to the recent facilities granted by the Soviet Government for emigration from the Soviet Union, and the powers conferred on the Intourist in this regard.
The issue of foreign passports, he said, is decided not by the Intourist, but by the administrative organs (the G.P.U.)
The Intourist as a purely commercial undertaking, can only mediate between intending emigrants and the authorities. The Intourist has received an assurance, however, from the authorities that they will consider applications for emigrant passports very liberally, and M. Romashevsky said that he believes that 90 per cent of all applicants will receive passports, and his estimate is based on his conversations and negotiations with the supreme authorities. Passports will be refused only for very important political reasons.
The advantage of applying for a foreign passport through the Intourist, M. Romashevsky said, is that where an applicant had previously to wait for a reply for months, and sometimes for years, and often had his application turned down, the Intourist has a firm promise from the authorities that the applicant will receive a definite answer at latest within four to six weeks, and in most cases it will take only a couple of weeks.
If anyone wishes to emigrate to a country where immigration is restricted or regulated, he said, he must supply an affidavit or visa from the country in question, otherwise the Intourist does not undertake to act for him in the matter of passport and transit visas. This is in the interests of the emigrants themselves, who would otherwise find themselves out of Soviet Russia, and unable to get into the country where they wish to go. Emigrants to European countries do not need any affidavits.
The applicant makes his application to one of the Intourist Departments in the Soviet Union, pays the required amount—500 roubles for workers and a thousand roubles for non-workers—and the Intourist carries out all the necessary formalities.
If the Departmental authorities reject the application for a passport, the money is returned to the applicant in the same valuta in which it was paid, deducting only three to five per cent
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
