H-1B six-year limit calculator.

How the six-year clock works

USCIS says an H-1B specialty occupation worker is generally admitted for up to 3 years, extendable by up to 3 more, for a total of 6 years. The regulation behind that is 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(A): a worker who has spent six years in the United States in H or L status may not seek an extension, change status or be readmitted in H or L status until they have lived and been physically present outside the United States for the immediate prior year, apart from brief trips. This tool counts the six years from the first day of the first stay you enter and treats the allowance as the number of calendar days between that day and its sixth anniversary, which is 2,191 or 2,192 days depending on leap days.

What each input does

• Stays. One row per approved stay in H-1B or L-1 status. The days from start to end, both included, are counted. Leave the end date blank and the tool uses the as-of date. Rows may not overlap, because a day counts once.
• Trips abroad. The regulation, at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(C), says time physically outside the United States exceeding 24 hours during the validity of an approved H-1B petition is not counted toward the six years. The tool therefore counts only the days strictly between the day you left and the day you came back, since those are whole days outside the country. The day you left and the day you returned had some time in the United States and are not subtracted. A trip is subtracted only where it falls inside one of your stays.
• As-of date. The day the clock is measured. It sets the end of any open stay and tells the tool whether the PERM or I-140 filing date below has already passed.

Reading the result

Days used are the days in your stays minus the full days abroad. Days left are the allowance minus the days used. The last day the allowance covers assumes you stay in the United States continuously from the end of your last stay, so any further trip abroad moves it later, and only if it is recaptured. The PERM or I-140 filing date is that last day minus 365 days. It comes from the lengthy-adjudication-delay rule at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(D), which allows H-1B approval beyond year six once at least 365 days have passed since a labor certification was filed with the Department of Labor, if one is required, or since an immigrant visa petition was filed. The regulation also lets an employer file the H-1B extension up to 6 months before the requested start date, as long as the labor certification or petition was filed at least 365 days before the extension takes effect.

A worked example (hypothetical)

A worker starts H-1B status on October 1, 2021 and is still working on October 20, 2026. The allowance runs from October 1, 2021 to October 1, 2027, 2,191 days. The stay so far is 1,846 days. The worker spent December 20, 2023 to January 10, 2024 abroad, which is 20 full days, and June 1 to June 15, 2025, which is 13 full days. That is 33 days of possible recapture, so the days used drop to 1,813 and 378 remain. Continuing without more trips, the allowance covers the worker through November 2, 2027. For 365 days to have passed by that date, the labor certification or I-140 would need to be filed by November 2, 2026, which is 13 days after October 20, 2026. The numbers are illustrations, not a case.

Common mistakes

• Counting every day abroad. Only time outside the United States during the validity of an approved H-1B petition qualifies, and the employer must request it.
• Forgetting that the request is not automatic. The petitioner has the burden to request and demonstrate the specific amount of time, and the regulation lets USCIS grant all, part or none of it. Passport stamps, Form I-94 records or airline tickets, with a chart of the dates, are the evidence the regulation names.
• Leaving out L-1 time. The regulation counts time in H and L status together, so an earlier L-1 stay can use up part of the six years.
• Starting the count from the petition filing date rather than the day status began.
• Trusting a date calculator that adds six years to the wrong start day. Compare the result with the validity dates on your Form I-797 approval notices.

Who this is for

Workers in their fourth to sixth year of H-1B status, employers planning extension petitions, and anyone trying to see whether a green card filing is early enough to qualify for an extension beyond the sixth year. If your employer has an approved I-140 but the Visa Bulletin cutoff has not reached your priority date, the regulation at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(E) allows extensions in up to 3-year increments, a different route from the 365-day rule here. Separately, the regulation closes the 365-day route to a beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition who fails to file for adjustment of status or apply for an immigrant visa within 1 year of a visa being authorized for issuance, subject to USCIS discretion to excuse circumstances beyond the worker’s control.

What this does not cover

Time spent in a different status, H-1B petitions held by a controlling-interest owner with 18-month validity periods, the DOD research project 10-year limit in 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(B), cap-exempt rules, a one-year-abroad reset, and the question of whether a particular absence qualifies. It does not decide whether your employer should request recapture or how to prepare the evidence.

Sources

• USCIS: H-1B specialty occupations — Period of stay: up to 3 years, extendable to 6; extensions beyond the sixth year (page updated 09/21/2026).
• eCFR: 8 CFR 214.2, special requirements for admission, extension and maintenance of status — Paragraphs (h)(13)(iii)(A) to (E): the six-year limit, time outside the United States, the 365-day exemption and the immigrant-visa-unavailable extension.
• USCIS: Form I-129 page — The petition an employer files to extend H-1B status.

Retrieved October 20, 2026. Rules and fees change, so verify against the current official page before you file or act.