Hi,
I am third year postdoctoral researcher employed on a H-1b visa sponsored by a major public university in northeast USA. Due to yearly nature of postdoc appointments, I don't travel to India frequently and therefore I currently don't hold a valid US travel visa. Additionally, my H-1b extension, just like previous years, was filed through 'non-consular', 'regular' processing and is still pending approval at USCIS.
In the meantime, two major (& totally unexpected) developments have taken place in my life:
1. My father unfortunately suffered a hemorrhagic stroke while visiting my brother at Bangalore and had to undergo brain surgery on an emergency basis. Needless to say, my family really needs me in India ASAP and are in possession of necessary medical documents to prove the case.
2. I very recently received a new postdoctoral offer from another faculty at the same university and very soon a H-1b amendment is going to be filed by my university through premium petition (partly to expedite my travel to India).
My questions:
A. After going over ustraveldocs.com website, I am still not sure whether my case qualifies for an emergency visa interview appointment at a US consulate in India. I am very worried that if my university files my H-1b amendment through 'consular' process and if my request for an emergency visa interview gets denied, I will be stuck in India until September (next available interview date for H-1B and L1 visa holders) and may end up loosing my new job which I am supposed to start at August 1st, 2016.
B. In your professional experience, on average, how early can an applicant get an emergency visa interview date when the regular interview dates are hovering around September. I fully realize that this is a hypothetical question but a ballpark (a week, a month etc.) will also be a big help.
Kindly suggest me the best approach for my case so that I can see my father and retain my new job as well.
Thanks in advance,
Ashutosh