How long a work visa is good for depends on the category: most start with an initial admission of one to three years, and the total time you can stay ranges from three years on an H-2A or H-2B, to six on an H-1B, to seven on an L-1A, up to no cap at all on an O-1, TN, or E visa. But the number that actually governs your stay isn’t the one printed on the visa stamp in your passport. It’s the “Admit Until Date” on your Form I-94.
The Visa Stamp Is Not Your Deadline
Two separate clocks run on every work visa, and mixing them up is one of the most costly mistakes a foreign worker can make.
The visa stamp is the sticker a U.S. embassy or consulate places in your passport. It controls when you can travel to a U.S. port of entry and request admission. Once it expires, you can no longer use it to enter the country. It does not force you to leave if you’re already here.
The date that actually controls how long you can stay is on your Form I-94, the Arrival/Departure Record that U.S. Customs and Border Protection creates electronically when you enter.1U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94 and I-94W The “Admit Until Date” on your I-94 is the date by which you must leave, extend your status, or change to another category. You can look up your I-94 online through CBP or the CBP One app.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, Information for Completing USCIS Forms You can lawfully remain in the U.S. after your visa stamp expires, as long as your I-94 is still valid.
How Long Each Work Visa Lasts
Every category has its own initial period, extension rules, and maximum total stay.
H-1B: Specialty Occupations
The H-1B, used by professionals in fields like engineering, IT, finance, and medicine, gives you an initial stay of up to three years, extendable for another three, for a maximum of six years total.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Specialty Occupations
Year six isn’t necessarily the end. Under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act (AC21), two provisions extend the H-1B for workers already in the green card pipeline. If your employer filed a labor certification or an I-140 immigrant petition at least 365 days before you hit six years, USCIS can grant one-year extensions while that application processes.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Supplemental Guidance Relating to Processing Forms I-140, I-129, and I-485 If your I-140 is already approved but you’re stuck in a per-country backlog, you can get three-year extensions until a final decision. For workers from countries with long employment-based queues like India and China, these extensions are what make long-term U.S. careers possible on an H-1B.
L-1: Intracompany Transferees
The L-1 brings employees from a foreign office to a U.S. branch, subsidiary, or affiliate. It splits into two subcategories.
The L-1A, for managers and executives, allows an initial three years, then two-year extensions up to a total of seven years.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager The L-1B, for employees with specialized knowledge, uses the same three-year initial period but caps at five years total.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge If you’re being sent to open a new U.S. office, both subcategories give only one year for the initial stay.
Once you’ve maxed out your L-1 time, you must live and be physically present outside the United States for a full year before qualifying for L-1 status again. Short business or vacation trips to the U.S. don’t interrupt that year, but they don’t count toward it either.7USCIS. Chapter 10 – Period of Stay
O-1: Extraordinary Ability
The O-1 is for people at the top of their field in sciences, arts, education, business, athletics, or the motion picture and television industry. The initial stay can last up to three years, based on how long USCIS decides you need to complete the event or activity that brought you in.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. O-1 Visa: Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement
There is no overall cap on how long you can hold O-1 status. Extensions come in one-year increments and can keep going as long as you still qualify and the work continues.9Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 402.13 – Extraordinary Ability – O Visas
TN: USMCA Professionals
The TN visa covers Canadian and Mexican citizens working in specific professions under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. You can be admitted for up to three years at a time, with no maximum cumulative limit.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. TN USMCA Professionals Three-year extensions can continue indefinitely so long as your work still qualifies.
E-1 and E-2: Treaty Traders and Investors
E-1 (treaty trader) and E-2 (treaty investor) visas are tied to qualifying trade or investment activity between the U.S. and your home country. The initial admission is two years, and extensions come in two-year increments with no limit on the number of them.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. E-1 Treaty Traders12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. E-2 Treaty Investors You must maintain the intent to leave the U.S. when your status ends, and if the trade or investment activity lapses, so does the basis for the visa.
H-2A and H-2B: Seasonal and Temporary Work
The H-2A (agricultural) and H-2B (non-agricultural) visas cover seasonal or temporary work. The initial period matches the length of the approved temporary labor certification from the Department of Labor, often less than a year. Extensions come in one-year increments, and the total stay under either visa is capped at three years.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Workers
After three years, you must leave the U.S. and stay out for at least 60 consecutive days before returning in H-2 status. Any uninterrupted 60-day absence during your stay resets the three-year clock. Time in other H or L categories also counts toward this three-year maximum, which catches some workers off guard.
Extending Your Stay
To extend, your employer files Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, with USCIS before your I-94 expires.15U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker The petition includes a copy of your current I-94 and a letter explaining the need for the extension. Filing fees vary by classification, and additional fees may apply for fraud prevention, training, and asylum program support.
Because standard processing can take months, many employers pay for premium processing by filing Form I-907. Premium processing guarantees USCIS will act on the petition within 15 business days, meaning an approval, denial, request for evidence, or notice of intent to deny.16U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How Do I Request Premium Processing As of March 1, 2026, the premium processing fee is $2,965 for most work visa categories (including H-1B, L-1, O-1, E-1, E-2, and TN) and $1,780 for H-2B and R-1 religious worker petitions.17Federal Register. Adjustment to Premium Processing Fees Petitions postmarked before that date use the older amounts.
If the extension is filed before your I-94 expires, you can keep working for the same employer for up to 240 days while the petition is pending, or until USCIS decides, whichever comes first.18eCFR. 8 CFR 274a.12 – Classes of Aliens Authorized to Accept Employment A denial cuts off that work authorization the moment you’re notified. The 240-day window only covers continued work for the same employer; it does not let you switch jobs.
Grace Periods When Employment Ends
Losing your job doesn’t mean you need to be at the airport the next morning. Workers in H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, E-1, E-2, and E-3 status get up to 60 consecutive days after employment ends, or until the I-94 expires (whichever is shorter), during which they’re still considered to be maintaining status.19eCFR. 8 CFR 214.1 – Period of Stay You can’t work during this window, but you can use it to find a new sponsor, apply for a change of status, or arrange your departure. USCIS can shorten the 60 days at its discretion, and you only get it once per authorized validity period.
A separate 10-day cushion is built into several categories. Workers in H-1B, L-1, E-1, E-2, E-3, and TN status may be admitted up to 10 days before the petition’s validity begins and may remain up to 10 days after it ends. No work is allowed during either window. These 10 days are not automatic; they have to appear on your approval notice or I-94.
What Happens If You Overstay
Staying past the date on your I-94 without a pending extension or change of status sets off a cascade of consequences, and the penalties scale with how long you overstay.
Your visa is automatically voided. Under federal law, any nonimmigrant who remains beyond the authorized period has the visa canceled, so you’d need to obtain a new one at a U.S. consulate in your home country before returning.20Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 302.1 – Ineligibility Based on Inadequate Documentation
You also begin accruing “unlawful presence,” which triggers re-entry bars at two thresholds:
- More than 180 days but less than one year: if you leave voluntarily before removal proceedings begin, a three-year bar from re-entering the U.S.
- One year or more: a ten-year bar from re-entry, whether you left voluntarily or were removed.21USCIS. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility
A waiver of these bars exists under INA Section 212(a)(9)(B)(v), but it requires proving extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent. The bar is high and the process slow.
A few groups are exempt from accruing unlawful presence: people under 18 at the time, individuals with pending bona fide asylum applications, beneficiaries of the Violence Against Women Act, and victims of severe trafficking. Everyone else starts the clock the day after their I-94 expires.