{"id":32034,"date":"2023-06-21T16:01:34","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T21:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/?p=32034"},"modified":"2023-07-10T10:16:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T15:16:01","slug":"h1b-visa-recapture-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/h1b-visa-recapture-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"What is H1B Visa Recapture Rule? Know How It can Extend Your H1B Status beyond Maximum Period of 6 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are on H1B visa, you must be wondering, sometimes, how to extend your H1B status after the maximum period of 6 years or whether you can extend your stay in the US after 6 years of valid H1B status. Yes, you can do that without accruing visa overstay or incurring a penalty. The H1B visa recapture rule is one of the few secrets that you should have knowledge of.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Generally, an H1B visa holder is entitled to not more than 6 years of stay in the United States.<\/strong> Initially, the much coveted H1B visa is issued to non-immigrants for 3 years, which is extendable only for another 3 years. the expiration of your H1B status on completion of six years requires you leave the US and bars you from re-entry into the country for at least one year.<\/p>\n

\"H1B

Picture Credit: APNLive.com<\/p><\/div>\n

However, the H1B visa<\/a><\/span> recapture rule can help you bypass this restriction<\/strong>. Most probably, you don\u2019t know that the period of your stay on H1B visa includes only the days you spend physically in the US, not your holidays outside of the US during this time. Precisely, any trip exceeding 24 hours outside of the US border, irrespective of the purpose, is excluded from the period of 6 years in the US while you have valid visa status, according to the H1B visa rules.<\/p>\n

The time spent in any part of the world other than the USA during the valid H1B period is called \u2018recapturing\u2019 time<\/strong>. The time you don\u2019t spend in the US during this period is called the \u2018unused\u2019 time. You can reclaim this time to extend your visa status beyond the usually permissible length of stay in the US. Whenever you travel to India for a few days, a few weeks, or a month or two while holding a valid H1B visa, the clock stops for the time spent in India and this does not count towards the H1B period of 6 years.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the H1B visa recapture rule does not need you to state or explain your purpose of traveling and spending some time outside of the US. Any time (more than 24 hours at a stretch) spent outside of the US, whether for a family vacation or a business trip, can be recaptured and added back to your valid period of stay in the US through a petition. Now you must be keen to know how.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now you must be keen to know how to file an H1B extension petition to recapture the \u2018unused\u2019 time.<\/strong> Though the onus of providing documentary proof for the time spent abroad falls on you, it is your employer who is required to file an H1B visa recapture petition to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The documents you should provide to help your employer prove that you have physically spent a period of time outside of the US are:<\/p>\n