I’m an American citizen living in NEWBERG Oregon im trying to bring my wife to the U.S. from Dubai, and we’ve been stuck in what feels like a complete system nightmare
We started this process in November 1st 2023. Our case was fully approved and became documentarily qualified in April 2nd 2025. Since then, everything has stalled.
The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi — where her interview is supposed to happen — has effectively stopped processing immigrant visas. NVC website says they are fully shut down, yet the embassy website says they are operating at minimal capacity. At the same time, the NVC has stopped giving any helpful responses. Expedite requests are either denied or met with automated replies, and from what I’ve been told, as of December 2025 their expedite department may not even be functioning anymore....
Here’s what I’ve done so far:
Contacted 5 senators and a congresswoman — no real help,
Sent 2 letters to the President and Vice President — no response
Hired multiple immigration attorneys spent over $11.5k
Travel expenses are now over $50k since 2023
Had one expedite approved early on in Jan 2025, but the last two were denied
Reached out to the embassy directly — no answers; got hung up on
Contacted over 40+ news outlets — no responses
Currently exploring help through someone with internal embassy access
We’ve also spent tens of thousands on travel and are now deep into financial strain, all while being forced to live apart as husband and wife.
At this point, I’m trying to figure out what actually works when the normal process completely breaks down.
I’m looking for real-world advice from anyone who has:
Successfully transferred their case to another embassy
Filed a mandamus lawsuit
Found a way to get an interview scheduled despite shutdowns
Or has insight into what’s actually going on behind the scenes
I’m not giving up—but I need a new angle.