Lon Snowden arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where his son had spent more than a month in transit limbo before Moscow agreed to grant him temporary asylum.
"I'm here to learn more about my son's situation," he told journalists at the airport. "My hope is to learn more about his circumstances and his health and to discuss legal options."
"If the opportunity presents itself, I certainly hope that I have the opportunity to see my son," Lon Snowden said in televised remarks.
Lon Snowden said he had had no direct contact with his son in recent months, and said he didn't yet know what his plans are. "I really have no idea what his intentions are," he said.
"I'm not sure that my son will be returning to the US," he told journalists. "That's his decision, he's an adult."
"I have extreme gratitude that my son is safe, secure, and free" in Russia, he said, repeating that he believed his son to be a "whistleblower" rather than a criminal.
He finally walked out of the airport on August 1 after obtaining temporary asylum in Russia despite protests from Washington and has remained underground ever since.
On Monday a tabloid Russian website LifeNews published a blurry photograph of a man it said was Snowden rolling a cart of groceries out of a supermarket.
The 30-year-old former IA contractor is wanted by the United States after revealing to the media details of massive domestic and foreign surveillance by the National Security Agency.