The six-year limit and extensions beyond it

H-1B status normally lasts up to six years in total, usually granted three years at a time. For people born in India and China, whose green cards take much longer, three exceptions matter most.

1. Recapture time spent abroad

Any full day you spent outside the US while in H-1B (or H-4, L) status can be added back to your six years. Vacations and business trips all count. You need evidence: passport stamps, I-94 history from CBP, and flight records. Your attorney adds up the days in the extension petition.

2. One-year extensions (AC21 section 106)

You can extend in one-year increments past six years if a PERM labor certification or an I-140 was filed on your behalf at least 365 days before the day you’d reach six years, and the case is still pending or approved.

3. Three-year extensions (AC21 section 104(c))

If your I-140 is approved but you can’t file for a green card because your priority date isn’t current (the per-country backlog), you can extend in three-year increments, again and again, until the green card comes. This is how many Indian-born workers stay on H-1B for 10 or 15 years.

Things that break the chain

• The I-140 is revoked before it has been approved for 180 days.
• You move to a new employer without planning how they’ll file for the extension.
• Long gaps in status.

Your H-4 spouse’s and children’s stays follow yours. See kids aging out for a separate clock that affects children.

Recent from immigration lawyers

From independent law firms, newest first. Not reviewed by h1b-life, not legal advice and not an endorsement.

• Can an Approved I-140 Still Help After the Employer Withdraws It?Murthy Law Firm · Nov 11, 2026
• My Child Aged Out of Our Employment-Based Green Card Case: What Now?Reddy Neumann Brown · Nov 11, 2026
• DHS Proposes to End Deference to Prior Approvals on H-1B and Other I-129 ExtensionsReddy Neumann Brown · Nov 10, 2026
• Equity-Rich, Salary-Light: The H-1B Wage and SOC Code Audit for Senior Technology ExecutivesBerardi Immigration Law · Nov 9, 2026

All videos and newsletters from immigration lawyers →

Sources

1. USCIS Policy Manual: H-1B extensions beyond six years (AC21 sections 104(c) and 106(a)-(b))
2. eCFR: 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii) (limits on admission)
3. Federal Register: Retention of EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Immigrant Workers (2016 AC21 rule)

Rules change often. If something here looks out of date, it probably is; check the official source and talk to an immigration attorney about your own case.