Snowden officially seeks temporary asylum in Russia

US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden has filed an official request for temporary asylum in Russia, lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said Tuesday.

"Because Snowden cannot leave the transit area of the Sheremetyevo (Airport), he completed all necessary forms, wrote a request and gave it to a Russian Federal Migration Service employee invited there for that purpose," the Interfax news agency quoted Kucherena as saying.

According to the lawyer, Snowden filled in the application in his presence at 11 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT).

The former spy agency contractor had no plans to go for Latin America after receiving temporary asylum in Russia, the lawyer noted. "Obviously, he hasn't made up his mind yet," he added.

The lawyer said earlier in the day he had explained to Snowden the Russian law on refugees, the president's decree on political asylum and the government's resolution on temporary asylum, hinting the whistleblower will make his decision soon.

Kucherena and a number of other lawyers as well as rights campaigners met with Snowden in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo Airport on Friday.

The Kremlin have so far kept silence over Snowden's alleged move.

"There is no written confirmation about that," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov added that President Vladimir Putin has no time to follow what Snowden has been doing. The spokesman referred the reporters to the Federal Migration Service (FMS).

According to head of the FMS Public Council Vladimir Volokh, Snowden could be transferred from the Sheremetyevo transit zone to the FMS temporary shelter for refugees while waiting for the authorities' decision.

"He will be obliged to register at the temporary address and obey the rules (for temporary residents)," Interfax news agency quoted Volokh as saying.

Volokh noted that no restrictions for Snowden's movements within Russia would exist otherwise.

Normally, the process of granting refugee status takes from three to six months in Russia. The law does not set definite timing for the procedure but reads that the status is granted for one year with possible annual extension.

The refugee automatically obtains a right to seek employment in Russia.