I'm currently in Ukraine with my fiance on the last steps of getting a K-1 visa for her (interview scheduling).

I'm not looking for promises or exact answers; we're curious for planning purposes, how does an embassy or consulate decide whether to schedule visa interviews?

On Nov. 16, the US Embassy in Ukraine discontinued non-immigrant visa interviews (including all K category) at around the same time the Ukrainian government had released updated guidelines on our quarantine: that it is extending quarantine past Dec. 31st, that the entire country is now an "orange" COVID zone, and that there will be a lockdown period from Jan. 7th to Jan 24th.

Kyiv, the location of the embassy, remained, as it was prior to the proclamation, an orange zone (as did most of the country). So my question is this: why did it stop scheduling interviews if the rules governing quarantine did not change in Kyiv and the surrounding regions and provinces, at least until Jan 7th?

My theories:

* They wanted to wind down the amount of work ahead of the holidays and the lockdown period.

* There was an outbreak among the staff that coincided with the proclamation.

* Embassy leadership considered the quarantine extension a signal that the situation in Ukraine was not stabilizing.

* New direction from State because of the holiday period or something else.

Thank you in advance for any answers. I'd like to better understand it instead of just summing it up to be the mysteries of bureaucracy. The information doesn't have to be Ukraine-specific.