H1B visa stamping in summer months (June or July)

[GG0101]

Hello All,

My problem does not seem that critical, but I feel there must be lot of people in the same boat.

I am in USA on H1B. I have not been able to get a visa stamping appointment ever since the pandemic started (my last interview for summer 2020 got cancelled due to the pandemic). Ever since, I have never been able to get an appointment. Only constraint for me is that I do not want my kids to be absent from school (my son is in High School). So, I need an appointment in June or July, since it takes 2 weeks in average to get the passport back.

I have seen the embassy releasing loads of interview dates this year, both for 2022 and 2023. Currently, there are lot of interview dates available in Sep, Oct, Nov 2023. But I did not get any for June or July, neither for 2022 nor 2023. I have a feeling that there are fewer summer interview dates for H1/H4 and they get snapped up within hours, so I probably miss them.

Anyone else in the same situation? Any suggestion what can be done? Missing high school for 2-3 weeks in disruptive, and not being able to go to India for emergencies for the next 3-4 years is extremely worrying. My PD is 2016, so it is not going to be current in the next few years!

Thanks,