I am currently on an H1B visa. I need to go to India (Chennai) during mid-August for attending a death ceremony. I need to get an H1B visa stamping and I am eligible for a drop box appointment.
Since the timing of my visit is crucial, I paid the required fees to book my appointment during Jan 2024. At that time, I saw multiple dates available during Jan-May 2024 for a drop box appointment in Chennai. I thought that dates during June, July and August would open up as time goes on. Hence, during Jan 2024, I booked an H1B drop box appointment on May 20, 2024.
I have been checking dates periodically since Jan 2024 to May 2024 with a hope that August dates would open up soon. However, I haven’t seen any dates beyond May 2024. I just rescheduled my drop box appointment from May 20 to May 24 (none available after this date).
During Jan 2024, I sent an email to the customer service and asked them whether Aug dates would open up soon or is it completely booked up. I just received a standard reply saying keep checking the dates.
Am I not seeing August dates due to some issue on my end (payment expiry date or others) or August dates not opened up yet for everyone or August dates are full?
As per the US DOS website, the wait time for H1B drop box appointment is one day only. Are they opening only a few days from the current date? If so, why I was able to see dates from Jan-May when I booked an appointment (May 20) during Jan 2024? I am not sure.
Thanks in advance.