Maintaining Your Legal H-1B1 Status

As an individual in H-1B1 visa status, you are in the United States as a temporary worker for the purpose of performing services (i.e., working) in a specialty occupation. Your H-1B1 status is valid until the date noted on your I-94 card and/or I-797 approval notice. This means you are permitted to stay in the U.S. until that date as long as you maintain your legal H-1B1 status by adhering to all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

Please keep in mind that there is an important difference between an H-1B1 visa and H-1B1 status. An H-1B1 visa is the stamped page in your passport placed there by a U.S. Consular Officer for entry purposes only (NOTE: If you originally entered the U.S. in another non-immigrant visa category and have subsequently changed your status to H-1B1 from within the U.S., you will need to obtain an H-1B1 visa from a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad in order to re-enter the U.S. to resume your employment following a departure from the U.S.). H-1B1 status is granted once you enter the U.S. (or once you have received an approval notice, Form I-797, for a change of status to H-1B1 without leaving the U.S.) and is regulated by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Even if your visa in your passport is valid, you can still lose your legal H-1B1 status if you do not comply with the applicable immigration laws regulating your stay in the U.S. Failure to maintain your legal H-1B1 status may result in your forced departure from the United States.

Government Regulations You Must Follow in Order to

Maintain Your Legal H-1B1 Status

• Maintain a valid passport at all times (unless exempt from passport requirements).
  
  
• Work only for the employer(s) for whom you have received authorization from USCIS.
  
  
• Report any changes in the terms and/or conditions of your employment to the Office of International Student & Scholar Services.
  
  
• Complete an extension of your H-1B1 status within 10 (ten) days of your expiration date if you intend to continue working with your current employer. Individuals in H-1B1 status only have a 10 (ten) day grace period. If a petition to extend your H-1B1 status is not submitted within that 10-day grace period, you will be "out-of-status" and required to leave the United States.
  
  
• If you voluntarily resign or you are terminated from your current place of employment, you must file a new petition for new H-1B1 status with another employer or leave the United States within the 10-day grace period. If a new petition is not filed within that 10-day grace period, you will be "out-of-status" and required to leave the United States.
  
  
• Before traveling outside the U.S. with the intention of re-entering, you must notify the Office of International Student & Scholar Services so that a staff member will have the opportunity to properly advise you concerning any documentation you might need in order to re-enter the United States.