Edward Snowden in December.(Photo: Channel 4 via AFP/Getty Images)

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has filed papers asking Russian authorities to extend his asylum for another year, his lawyer said Wednesday.

"The procedure is very simple if a citizen of any country would like to stay and live in Russia," lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told the Russian-based news service RT. "In this case we are talking about Snowden, so we have fulfilled the procedure to receive temporary asylum."

Snowden, whose asylum expires July 31, was a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton when he leaked details of U.S. surveillance programs to The Guardian and The Washington Post. The first report was published in June 2013, setting off an immediate firestorm. Snowden, who was in hiding in Hong Kong at the time, fled to Moscow where he obtained temporary asylum.

Kucherena did not say if Snowden would seek his permit with a different status such as citizenship, RT reported.

"The decision lies with the Federal Migration Service," Kucherena told RT when asked what status they would like to get.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia was not "protecting" Snowden, but that Russia had no legal basis to extradite him.

Snowden has expressed interest in returning to the United States, but fears charges of espionage and theft of government property could result in a lengthy prison sentence.

Fallout from Snowden's revelations continues to make headlines.

Glenn Greenwald, one of the reporters to break the Snowden story last year, reported Wednesday that the NSA and FBI have "covertly monitored the emails of prominent Muslim-Americans including a political candidate and several civil rights activists, academics, and lawyersunder secretive procedures intended to target terrorists and foreign spies."

Excerpt from:
Edward Snowden seeks to extend stay in Russia

Fugitive national security contractor Edward Snowden has filed the paperwork to extend his refuge in Russia as the July 31 expiration of his asylum grant approaches, his lawyer told Russian media on Wednesday.

Snowden has indicated in interviews during his yearlong stay in Russia that he would like to move on elsewhere or even come home to the United States if he could be assured of getting a fair trial on the espionage charges the U.S. Justice Department has filed against him.

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FOR THE RECORD

An earlier version of this post misspelled Pentagon papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg's last name as Ellsburg.

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But with little indication from Washington that any deal to repatriate him is in the offing, the 31-year-old fired by the National Security Agency last year after leaking reams of classified information has apparently hedged his bets and gotten a jump on the bureaucratic process of extending his Russian visa.

"We have filed documents to extend his stay on the territory of Russia," attorney Anatoly Kucherena told the Interfax news agency.

Snowden was granted temporary asylum on Aug. 1 last year after being marooned for more than a month in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport. He had arrived without a visa for Russia en route to a self-imposed exile in Cuba but was unable to travel on because his U.S. passport had been revoked.

Felony charges were filed against the NSA contractor after he revealed classified program files that showed massive surveillance of private citizens' emails, phone calls and texts in pursuit of terrorists' communications.

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As end of Russia visa approaches, Edward Snowden seeks ...

By Karoun Demirjian July 9 at 10:59 AM

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has decided to stick around in Russia for a little longer provided authorities there are willing to keep thumbing their nose at the United States' entreaties to ship him home to face trial on charges of exposing intelligence secrets.

Snowden's Russian attorney, Anatoly Kucherena, told Russian media on Wednesday that he and his client "have submitted documents for extending his stay in Russia" past when his temporary asylum is set to expire July 31.

The Russian government granted Snowden asylum for a year last summer after he became stranded in a Moscow airport trying to fly from Hong Kong to Cuba. U.S. officials had revoked his passport and charged him with espionage and theft of government property he could face up to 10 years in prison for each crime.

Snowden gained international attention when he used his top-secret security clearance to obtain and leak classified documents detailing the inner workings of the U.S. intelligence community to the news media. His revelations were first published in The Washington Post and in Britain's Guardian newspaper.

The revelations have shed light on secret U.S. government operations, including data mining and global Internet surveillance. But in that time, the United States has not been able to apprehend Snowden or even pin down much information about him including some of the most basic facts about his existence.

A recent Post investigationby Greg Miller revealed that the United States still doesn't know exactly where Snowden lives in Russia or how much regular contact he has with the Russian security services.

Despite high-level coordination among U.S. intelligence agencies, Miller's investigation showed, U.S. efforts remain largely dependent on Russia either slipping up or showing its hand. Without Russian cooperation, the United States has limited abilities to trace Snowden in and around Moscow, and unless theUnited States can show that Snowden is colluding with Russian authorities, it will be difficult to substantiate the most serious charges against him. There has been no determination that he is an agent of a foreign power, a legal distinction required to make an American citizen a target of espionage overseas.

Snowden has maintained throughout his asylum that he has not cooperated with foreign authorities or passed any classified U.S. information on to them.

But that doesnt mean Russia will decide to cooperate with U.S. requests to send him home.

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WorldViews: Edward Snowden seeks more time in Russia

Edward Snowden remains a fugitive from U.S. authorities over leaking secret documents about its surveillance programs. Now he's asking Russia to extend the one-year term of asylum the country granted the former NSA contract worker last summer.

Snowden's asylum, which was granted last August, is set to expire at the end of this month. His lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, says they've filed papers for an extension.

"We have gone through the course of receiving temporary asylum. On July 31, this term ends. We have submitted documents on the extension of his stay in Russia," Kucherena said, according to state-run news agency Ria Novosti. We won't say yet in what status we would like to receive the extension because that decision is up to the Federal [Migration] Service."

Last December, Snowden said he wanted to gain "permanent political asylum" to give him the freedom he needs to discuss U.S. surveillance activities more openly. And in March, he said his attempts to gain asylum in European Union member nations had been frustrated by the U.S.

When Russia granted Snowden asylum after he spent weeks in a legal limbo at Moscow's international airport, the White House said it was "extremely disappointed" in the decision, saying that Snowden "is not a whistleblower."

Documents provided to the media by Snowden exposed a broad U.S. surveillance program. And the records were cited today by reporter Glenn Greenwald, in a story that asserts the National Security Agency and FBI "monitored the emails of prominent Muslim-Americansincluding a political candidate and several civil rights activists, academics, and lawyers."

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As Deadline Nears, Snowden Seeks To Extend His Stay In Russia

NSA leaker Edward Snowden's asylum in Russia runs out on July 31, leaving him without a home if it is not extended.

Edward Snowden Laura Poitras/The Guardian/Screenshot by CNET

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who took nearly 2 million intelligence files from the US to reveal espionage tactics used by the government, has asked Russia for an extension on his asylum.

Speaking to the Russian Times on Wednesday, Snowden attorney Anatoly Kucherena said that he has filed, on Snowden's behalf, a request for an extension of his asylum in Russia. The attorney didn't say whether he asked for a simple one-year extension or something else, such as citizenship status.

After Snowden's leaks were revealed last year, he went on the run, attempting to make his way to Cuba and find safe ground from US law enforcement agencies seeking his extradition to the US and charges. Upon landing in a Russian airport last June, Snowden discovered that the US had voided his passport, leaving him in a holding area at the airport until he could find a new solution. On August 1, Russia finally allowed him into its country on a one-year asylum.

Snowden's asylum runs out on July 31. In the event the government does not extend the asylum, Snowden would be forced to leave Russia and find a new country to sidestep the US. Several countries in South America that have no extradition treaties with the US have offered Snowden asylum. With no passport, however, he can't make the trek to those countries.

Russia offering safe haven to Snowden has been met with concern in the US, where some believe that the country is housing a criminal. The Russian government, however, noted that Snowden has committed no crimes between its borders, leaving it with no reason but to offer him asylum. The government hasn't yet commented on whether his extension will be granted.

Snowden's revelations have proven damaging to the public perception of the US and its espionage techniques. According to documents revealed by Snowden, the government has done everything from collect nearly all data transmitted over networks to information on international government officials. The revelations have hurt US relations with certain countries, including Germany, and have caused the US to speak out publicly about its techniques and attempt to clarify claims.

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Snowden asks for extension on Russian asylum

US whistleblower Edward Snowden has officially asked to extend his stay in Russia after his visa expires, his lawyer has told the BBC.

Anatoly Kucherena confirmed that paperwork had been submitted to Russias Federal Migration Service.

The current document granting him temporary asylum expires on July 31.

Snowden fled the US in May 2013 and has been living under temporary asylum in Russia. Last year, he fed a trove of secret intelligence to news outlets.

We have gone through the procedure of getting temporary asylum. We have submitted documents for extending his stay in Russia, Kucherena told reporters on Wednesday.

The lawyer did not say for how long Snowden wanted to stay in Russia, or whether he wanted to become a Russian citizen.

Snowden became stranded in the international airport at Moscow last year while travelling from Hong Kong to Cuba. He was in effect trapped in the airports transit zone for several weeks before the Russian government allowed him refugee status for a year.

He went to Russia shortly after leaking details of the National Security Agencys international surveillance and telephone-tapping operation.

Russias decision to give asylum to Snowden a former NSA contractor was strongly criticised by the United States.

Correspondents say that while Snowden has in recent weeks increased his media visibility in Russia by giving several closely monitored interviews, he has conceded that he would like to go home, where he faces spying charges that could result in a substantial jail sentence.

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Snowden applies to extend his stay in Russia