H-1B visa rules: How can you stay, work and extend status beyond standard six years

Under US immigration law, the H-1B visa is initially granted for up to three years. This can be extended for another three years, for a total period of six years. But can you extend your H-1B status beyond the standard six-year limit? The answer is yes.

Here's how you can get your H-1B status extended beyond six years:

1. File Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) or labor certification at least 365 days (one year) before the requested H-1B extension start date.

If you have filed this form (even if it is not approved yet), your H-1B status can be renewed beyond the six-year limit in one-year increments.

2. The new employer may file Form I-129, and the employee can start work once the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives the petition, under H-1B probability rules. An employer uses Form I-129 to petition USCIS for a foreign national to come temporarily to the US as a non-immigrant to perform services or labour, or to receive training.

3. If you have an approved Form I-140 (the first step toward a US Green Card), but an immigrant visa number is not yet available due to backlogs, your employer may file for H-1B extensions beyond the standard six-year limit, which USCIS can approve in three-year increments.

4. If you have an approved Form I-140 and an immigrant visa number is available, this does not provide a basis to renew H-1B status beyond six years. The one-year extension rule applies only if your employer filed a labor certification or I-140 at least 365 days before the end of the six-year period and the petition is still pending.

5. In cases such as job change or lay-off, a timely-filed, non-frivolous 'change of status' or extension petition generally allows you to remain in the United States in a period of authorised stay while the petition is pending, even after expiration of H-1B status.

An individual is not authorised to work beyond the H-1B status end-date until the 'change of status' is approved. This applies if the employer wants to 'change status' without leaving the US.

6. A pending Compelling Circumstances EAD (CCEAD) application provides a period of authorised stay while it is under review, even after the expiration of H-1B status. In this case, however, the individual is not authorised to work beyond the H-1B status end-date until the CCEAD is approved.

7. An approved CCEAD provides a period of authorised stay and employment authorisation, renewable in one-year increments if compelling circumstances persist. With a CCEAD, the individual may work for any employer.

8. A pending Form I-485 (Adjustment of Status) together with an approved EAD and Advance Parole, allows a period of authorised stay until Form I-485 is adjudicated, even after H-1B status expires. With a valid EAD, the applicant can work for any employer.

9. Approval of Form I-485 grants Lawful Permanent Residency (LPR) status. status. A person with LPR status is authorised to work for any employer in the US.