PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

West Asia • October 2026. Gulf Embassies Went Dark: What the U.S. Visa Freeze Means for OFWs and Fil-Am Families. us visa gulf 2026, ofw us visa, us embassy abu dhabi dubai visa, immigrant visa pause 2026, dmw advisory 10, filipino workers uae saudi arabia, west asia, the gulf, 10/3. WEST ASIA • THE GULF • OCTOBER 2026 Gulf Embassies Went Dark: What the U.S. Visa Freeze Means for OFWs and Fil-Am Families U.S. visa windows across the Gulf closed after the war began on February 28, and immigrant visa interviews were then paused worldwide in August. Here is what is verified, what is not, and who pays for the wait. PinoyBuilt illustration. Not an archival photograph. On February 28, 2026, the State Department issued a Worldwide Caution as U.S. combat operations in Iran began. Within days, the visa windows that many Filipino workers in the Gulf depend on started to close. The U.S. mission in the UAE suspended routin...

Good riddance! The mother of my three children died due to COVID-19. I have no sympathy for idiots who refuse to get vaccinated, and do their part to keep everyone safe.

On Jan. 1, hundreds of California laws take effect, including some that are efforts to root out systemic racism and strengthen worker rights. Here's our selection of ones you should know.

As a result of the continuing surge, military personnel have arrived to assist in Los Angeles County and Riverside with the record-number of cases. As a result of the continuing surge, military personnel have arrived to assist in Los Angeles County and Riverside with the record-number of cases. https://t.co/aoZCEqWAxs — CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) January 11, 2021

A Filipino woman in Dubai is feeding dozens of migrants each day. Despite being unemployed herself, Feby Dela Peña is adamant on helping others. In the sweltering heat of the late afternoon in Dubai, Feby Dela Peña arrives with 200 free meals of rice, fried fish and boiled eggs.   The 34-year-old Filipina mother of three is unemployed and relies on her husband's modest income from a sales job. But when she saw people lining up for free meals one night outside her building, she decided to use whatever money her family had to help out. This is the first time in 12 years of living in Dubai that she has seen Filipinos like herself standing in line for a free meal.  "Life is so hard and they don't have anyone to depend on," Dela Peña says. "If I stop this, many people will stop eating," she adds.  As with most migrant workers in Dubai, the family lives in a shared apartment with 11 other housemates. Some of them also chipped in when they heard of h...

Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue lit up to look like a doctor on Easter Sunday to honor health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus battle. Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue lit up to look like a doctor on Easter Sunday to honor health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus battle. https://t.co/IsS7UPErUb pic.twitter.com/T3ssZo9mud — ABC News (@ABC) April 13, 2020 [post_ads]

The Delano Grape Strike was one of the successful labor movements for farm workers in 1960s. It continues to inspire immigrants and people of color. Follow @Pinoybuilt [post_ads]