Ukraine War Refugees Find a Visa Nightmare Blocking Their Path to the U.S.

Ukrainian refugees embrace before boarding a train at Przemysl railway station, in Przemysl, Poland.Photographer: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg
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U.S. citizens hoping to bring their Ukrainian parents, children or employees to America are finding that threats from bombs and bullets count little in the complex U.S. immigration system.

Visas routinely given to students on holiday aren’t available to Ukrainians who don’t know when they can go home, or if their home will even be there. U.S. consulates in the country are closed, and those in neighboring countries are so jammed that the State Department says displaced people should head to Frankfurt, Germany, to apply for longshot visas or finish applications already in progress.