American Notes IMMIGRATION

For years, the most difficult hurdle for Soviet citizens seeking asylum in the U.S. was obtaining their own government's permission to emigrate. Now thousands of would-be refugees who have been granted precious exit documents are facing an unexpected obstacle. Last week the U.S. embassy in Moscow announced that it has exhausted its entire 1988 budget for resettling Soviets and would process no more refugee visas until Oct. 1.

Hardest hit are thousands of Soviet Armenians, who have swelled the emigrant ranks in recent months. In June alone the embassy issued 2,000 refugee visas, more than the total for all 1987. Many Armenians who were planning to leave the U.S.S.R. in a few weeks risk having their Soviet exit visas expire before the U.S. again opens its doors. Said a distraught emigrant: "We moved out of our apartments and quit our jobs."

State Department officials insist that the situation is only temporary and that much of the problem could be resolved if the Soviets would extend the exit visas. Still, the red-tape tangle was more than a little ironic, coming just one month after Ronald Reagan publicly blamed the Soviet bureaucracy for impeding the flow of emigrants to the West.