H-1B Status Overview for Current Scholars 

Current H-1B employees are required to comply with complex immigration regulations in order to ensure ongoing H-1B for employment, travel, and future immigration benefits such as adjustment of status to permanent resident. H-1B employees, as well as their hiring departments, should contact SISS with any questions regarding H-1B status requirements.

Maintaining Valid H-1B Status

Current employees should follow these basic rules to maintain a valid immigration status:

• Possess a valid and unexpired passport at all times while in H-1B status
• Stop employment once you reach the expiration date of your H-1B authorization (as indicated on your I-797A approval notice) or your Form I-94, whichever comes earlier
• If you plan to extend your employment, ask your department to submit a timely extension request to SISS at least six months before the expiration of your current authorization
• Check your I-94 admission record after each arrival in the U.S., and make sure that the your information is correct, your class of admission is “H-1B”, and your “admit until” date extends through the end of your H-1B authorization period
• Notify USCIS within 10 days of any change to your U.S. residential address by completing Form AR-11 (online or paper version)
• Work only in the H-1B position specifically authorized by USCIS for UC Davis – do not engage in any new or outside employment without first discussing with SISS
• Have your department notify SISS of any proposed changes to your H-1B employment, in case an H-1B amendment application is needed
• Follow travel instructions for re-entering the U.S. in H-1B status (or H-4 status for any dependents)
• Notify SISS and your department if you plan to depart UC Davis for any reason before the expiration of your current H-1B authorization period
• Notify SISS if your status changes from H-1B to another status
• If you have a grace period, do not work during this time

Changes to Authorized H-1B Employment

• Change of Employer or Adding Second Employer

• If you are already authorized for H-1B employment, you may be able to change employers or add a second employer (“concurrent” employer). Each employer, however, must file their own petition with USCIS before the employee may start work. Do not assume that if you were authorized for H-1B employment with one employer that you are automatically approved to accept employment with another employer. This includes work at other UC campuses: for example, if you are authorized to work at UC Davis as an H-1B employee, you may not accept concurrent employment from UC Berkeley, unless UC Berkeley completes a separate H-1B petition for you.

  Fortunately, in a change of employer or concurrent employment situation, you may begin work with the new employer once USCIS has issued a receipt notice confirming that they have received your employer’s petition and your requested employment start date has arrived.

  If you want to work for a second employer that is subject to the annual H-1B cap (applicable to most private sector employers), that employer must advise on eligibility requirements. SISS is unable to answer on cap-subject H-1B employment.

  UC Davis departments should contact SISS in case they wish to hire an employee already working for another H-1B employer. Similarly, departments should contact SISS if any of their H-1B employees is seeking to change employers or add a second employer.

• Amending H-1B Employment 

• H-1B employment is always authorized for a specific employer and specific job duties, work sites, and wage ranges. Any significant or “material” changes to these items requires UC Davis to file a new petition amending the terms of employment. SISS must prepare and submit the amendment petition BEFORE the changes can take place. However, once the amendment petition is received and receipted by USCIS, the changes may go into effect. If the amendment petition is denied, the employee must revert back to the original terms of H-1B  employment.

  Amendment petitions are necessary only for significant or material changes. Not every change is considered material. For example, a change in office address at the same worksite, or an annual merit or cost of living increase, are not considered material changes. Some examples of material changes include the following:

  - Change to a new job location outside of the employee’s current metropolitan statistical area

  - Addition of new worksites to existing job location

  - Change from part-time to full-time work, or vice-versa

  - Change from in-person / hybrid to fully remote work, or vice-versa

  - Addition or deletion of major duties, including supervisory duties

  UC Davis departments should contact SISS at least sixty days in advance of any proposed changes so that a material change analysis may be completed. Based on this analysis, a determination will be made regarding whether or not an amendment petition is required.

• H-1B Benefits and Time Off 

• H-1B employees should receive the same benefits given to U.S. employees hired to the same position, including vacation and sick leave.

  In addition, H-1B employees may request voluntary unpaid time off, if permitted under any policies covering their position. Such requests should be made and approved in writing, and SISS should be contacted with details regarding the anticipated period of time off.

  Under no circumstances should H-1B employees be ‘benched,’ i.e., placed into unproductive status due to a lack of funding or available work. Requiring an employee to take time off in this way is not permitted under Department of Labor regulations and may lead to significant penalties. Employees may also not be diverted into duties that were not included in the original H-1B authorization. Even if work is not available for the employee, the UC is required to compensate the employee at the H-1B approved LCA wage regardless of productive status, unless the employee is terminated (see next section).

• H-1B Termination or Departure

• H-1B employees and their departments should notify SISS if they are voluntarily departing their UC Davis employment at any time prior to the expiration of their authorized period of stay. This is a requirement, in order to ensure the employee’s departure is processed correctly and the UC’s wage obligations to the employee under Department of Labor regulations are completed. Contact sissscholar@ucdavis.edu if you have questions regarding departure.

  If an H-1B employee is involuntarily terminated by the department for any reason prior to the expiration of their H-1B authorization period, the department is required to offer the reasonable cost of one-way return transportation to the employee’s last country of residence. This offer only needs to cover the standard economy airfare for the employee and not the cost of dependent transportation and/or shipment of household goods. Departments with this situation should contact sissscholar@ucdavis.edu as soon as possible with details. Employees may choose to accept or decline the offer depending on their individual preferences.

Expiration of Status, Time Limits, and Other Topics

• Understanding H-1B Expiration Dates 

• H-1B employees should keep in mind two different expiration dates, which may or may not be the same:

  I-797A End Date: The Form I-797A approval notice will indicate a start and end date for your H-1B position (up to a maximum of three years). For example, USCIS may indicate that you are eligible to work in your position from July 1, 2024, until June 30, 2027. In this case, the latter date is the last day the position is authorized for H-1B employment.

  I-94 Expiration: The “Admit Until” date on your Form I-94 arrival record is the last day you may lawfully stay in the U.S. to work as an H-1B employee. Your I-94 may be attached to your Form I-797. You will also receive a new I-94 each time you enter the U.S. If an extension petition is submitted on your behalf, a new I-797A approval notice and a new I-94 will be issued once the petition is approved.

  If traveling internationally, it is important to check your I-94 after every arrival to make sure that it NEVER expires before your I-797A end date, since your I-94 determines whether or not you are in the U.S. lawfully. You may not work if your I-94 expires, even if your I-797A expiration is into the future. Early I-94 expiration may happen, for example, if your passport expires before your I-797A expiration date. Staying in the U.S. after the expiration of your I-94 may lead to you being considered unlawfully present in the U.S., which is an extremely serious immigration violation.

  In some cases, the I-94 may also include an extra ten-day period after the I-797A expiration. This ten-day “grace period” is not for employment, but is a discretionary period sometimes granted to allow you to prepare for departure. See the information about grace periods, below.

• H-1B Time Limitations and Exceptions 

• H-1B authorization is granted in periods of up to three years, extendable up to six years. In limited situations, additional time beyond six years may be possible. The most common situations that allow for additional time:

  - H-1B Recapture: Any whole day spent outside of the U.S. while in H-1B status may later be “recaptured” through an H-1B extension petition. For example, if you spent nine months outside of the U.S. during your six years of H-1B authorization, SISS may be able to file an extension petition recapturing those 9 months for additional H-1B employment time.

  - AC21 106a Extension: If you are pursuing employment-based permanent residence, you may be eligible for a one-year extension of your H-1B authorization if you are the beneficiary of a Labor Certification Application (LCA) and/or Form I-140 petition for alien worker that was filed 365 days or more in the past.

  - AC21 104c Extension: if you are the beneficiary of an approved Form I-140 petition for alien worker, but are not yet eligible to adjust to permanent resident due to country-based limitations on immigrant visas, you may be eligible for H-1B extensions up to three years.

  Finally, an H-1B employee can re-establish eligibility for an additional six years of H-1B status if they are physically absent from the U.S. for a minimum of 12 consecutive months. After twelve months, the H-1B “clock” is reset and the person becomes eligible for another six-year period. Departments should contact SISS at sissscholar@ucdavis.edu with questions about these options for extending H-1B status beyond six years.

• H-1B “Grace Period” 

• In certain cases, H-1Bs who are ending employment prior to the expiration of their current authorization may have a “grace period” of up to sixty days to search for new H-1B employment. For example, an employee whose work ends on June 30, but whose H-1B authorization extends through December 31, could choose to pursue other H-1B employment starting no later than sixty days past June 30. A new H-1B employer must file a separate petition for the employee by the end of the grace period.

  The grace period is granted at the discretion of USCIS and is not guaranteed. If an employee is unable to find a new H-1B employer willing to file a petition on their behalf by the end of the grace period, they will no longer be able to maintain H-1B status.

• H-4 Dependents 

• H-4 dependents include the legal spouse of the H-1B employee and/or unmarried children under 21. H-4 children lose their H-4 eligibility upon marriage or turning 21, whichever occurs first.

  H-4 dependents are permitted to study full- or part-time as they wish, but may not work while in the U.S. However, in limited cases, H-4 dependents may be eligible to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) card, or work permit, if the H-1B employee is in the permanent residence (“green card”) process and has an approved I-140 petition or has been granted an H-1B extension under AC21 106(a).

• H-1B Travel
• For detailed information about H-1B or H-4 dependent travel, consult our Scholar Travel resources page.