Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency whistleblower who has lived in Russia since his revelations rocked the US intelligence community in 2013, has a taxpayer identification number, Systema, RFE/RL’s Russian investigative unit found.
You can apply for asylum in an embassy and receive travel documents if approved. Either Russia or Ecuador could also have just put him on a diplomatic flight. Edward Snowden is not the first person who needed to cross hostile borders to claim asylum. The simple fact of the matter is that he either chose not to do so, or was not allowed to do so.