In Vietnam, Cuba and Russia, Budget Impasse Takes Its Toll

In Vietnam, the government has threatened to cut off electricity to the U.S. Embassy because the $1,600 bill hasn’t been paid.

In Russia, U.S. diplomats took out an interest-free loan from the Moscow embassy’s community association to cover the payroll for Russian employees.

In Cuba, the trucker who hauls drinking water to the U.S. interests section has refused to make any more deliveries until paid.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 applications by foreigners for visas to come to this country are going unprocessed each day, creating a huge backlog of paperwork and infuriating prospective visitors. And in this country, more than 200,000 Americans are waiting for passports that cannot be issued.

Such is life in the State Department in the third week of a partial government shutdown that has cut off the department’s money and blocked almost all nonemergency spending. Senior officials Tuesday described a mounting sense of crisis as undone paperwork piles up, the backlog of unprocessed visa and passport applications grows, travel plans are canceled and embassy officials scramble for funds to pay restive local employees.