Mr. Speaker. today I am introducing legislation to grant permanent resident status to the six Soviet Pentecostals residing in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and to waive the requirement that. once entering the United States. they must wait 5 years before becoming eligible for naturalization. On June 27. 1978. eight members of the Vashchenko and Chymkhalov families traveled to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to inquire about U.S. immigration procedures. As observant Pentecostalists. they were unable to practice their religion and remain in the Soviet Union at the same time. One of the eight. John Vashchenko. was forcibly prevented from entering the Embassy by the KGB in spite of the fact that they had permission to visit the U.S.
Keywords matched
naturalization immigration