H-1B visa maximum duration

U.S. policy on maximum duration

In theory, the maximum duration of the H-1B visa is six years (ten years for exceptional Defense Department project-related work). H-1B holders who want to continue to work in the U.S. after six years, but who have not obtained permanent residency status, must remain outside of the U.S. for one year before reapplying for another H-1B visa.

There are generally two exceptions to the six-year duration of the H-1B visa:

• If a visa holder has submitted an I-140 immigrant petition or a labor certification prior to their fifth year anniversary of having the H-1B visa, they are entitled to renew their H-1B visa in one-year or three-year increments until a decision has been rendered on their application for permanent residence.
• If the visa holder has an approved I-140 immigrant petition, but is unable to initiate the final step of the green card process due to their priority date not being current, they may be entitled to a three-year extension of their H-1B visa. This exception originated with the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000.

H-1B visa holders who wish to apply for a green card...

If you dont not file by the end of the fifth year, you can still apply for a green card, but it creates complications in continuing your H-1B status seamlessly during your green card processing once you have hit the end of your sixth year in H-1B status. It places you in the position of either having to depart the U.S. for periods of time (in order to "recapture" the time) prior to the end of this sixth year of H-1B status, or to change to another nonimmigrant status here until the one-year anniversary of your PERM application filing, at which point you could obtain another one year of H-1B status.

The cost of phase one - PERM processing through the U.S. Department of Labor - must be paid by the employer that is sponsoring you. It is the hardest part of the green card case and legal fees typically run $2,500 to $3,500 for this phase of the process.