OK, so this bites, and everybody is emotional. And for a good reason—some have been waiting and suffering for a long time. But it was hard to complain since closed embassies had an excuse—Covid. Now, if one (Moscow) embassy is completely closed to visa processing, the State Dept. should live up to their own recent declarations about prioritizing K-1s by transferring them to open embassies. I have tried talking to the State Dept. in DC. I don’t have the leverage. Who does? The press. Any government agency is afraid of the bad press. So, anybody who has been waiting for a year may want to think about contacting their local TV news. This story has everything that local news love to feature: love, covid, suffering, uncaring bureaucrats. Once the word gets out, the State dept will be forced to act. We have all seen government agencies act very quickly once such criticism goes public. Contacting lawyers and senators may be useful too, but slower. In any case, there are plenty of useful tools. No time for despair.