H-1B Recapture: How to Count Days Abroad and Prove Them With I-94 Travel History and Passport Stamps

Time you spent outside the US for more than 24 hours on an approved H-1B can be added back to your six years, but only if your employer requests it and proves each trip.

Part of our guide to the I-94 record.

H-1B recapture lets your employer add back every stretch you spent outside the United States for more than 24 hours while you held an approved H-1B petition, so those days do not use up your six-year limit. The rule is 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(C), and it puts the burden on the petitioner: your employer must ask for a specific number of days and prove each trip with records such as passport stamps, I-94s or airline tickets, plus a chart. You collect the records. Your employer's immigration attorney files them with Form I-129.

Status line, as of 2026-11-01: the recapture rule is in effect (since 2017-01-17; the current eCFR text matches the 2016 final rule word for word). USCIS still defers to prior approvals on extensions; removing that deference (RIN 1615-AD26) is only proposed, with comments closing 2026-11-13 (check the Federal Register for any outcome after that). The $4,000 9-11 fee on H-1B extensions filed by covered employers is in effect through 2027-09-30. Details, and the current processing time, are below.

What is H-1B recapture?

H-1B recapture is the process of reclaiming time you spent physically outside the US during an approved H-1B petition's validity, so that time does not count toward the six-year maximum in INA 214(g)(4). Any absence exceeding 24 hours qualifies, for any reason. Your employer requests the exact days in a later I-129 petition and must prove them.

USCIS's H-1B specialty occupations page describes an initial stay of up to 3 years, extendable "for a total period of admission of 6 years." The regulation says time abroad "shall not be considered" in that total, "regardless of whether such time meaningfully interrupts the alien's stay in H-1B status and the reason for the alien's absence" (8 CFR 214.2 on eCFR). A holiday, a family emergency and a business trip count the same way, as long as an approved H-1B petition was valid at the time.

There is no deadline: recapture is allowed "at any time before the alien uses the full period of H-1B admission." There is also no guarantee: "Based on the evidence provided, USCIS may grant all, part, or none of the recapture period requested." That sentence is why the evidence packet matters more than the arithmetic.

What counts toward the six years, and what can be recaptured?

The six-year clock counts time spent inside the US in H-1B or L-1 status. When DHS codified recapture in its 2016 final rule (81 FR 82398, published 2016-11-18), it restated USCIS policy: your remaining time is the full six years "minus any time that the H-1B nonimmigrant worker previously spent in the United States in valid H-1B or L-1 status," which "allows time spent inside the United States in any other nonimmigrant status ... to be 'recapturable'" (final rule on govinfo).

What uses up the H-1B six-year limit (as of 2026-11)

Do partial days abroad count?

Not on their own. The regulation recaptures only time "exceeding 24 hours," so a same-day trip to Canada adds nothing. For longer trips the regulation does not say how to count travel days, and a widely used practitioner convention counts only calendar days you spent entirely outside the US, treating the departure day and the return day as US days.

That convention is practitioner guidance, not regulatory text. A day spent abroad from midnight to midnight is hard to dispute; counting 24-hour periods from flight times can add a day on some trips. The methods split most on short trips: leave Friday evening and return Saturday night, and you were away more than 24 hours but spent no whole calendar day abroad, so the convention counts zero. Your employer's attorney picks the method, so keep records with times as well as dates.

Do not borrow other day-count rules. For tax, the IRS says "You are treated as present in the U.S. on any day you are physically present in the country, at any time during the day" (IRS substantial presence test), close to the opposite convention. USCIS's PA-2026-15 "definition of day" (in effect since 2026-10-23) governs filing deadlines (USCIS Policy Manual); our reading is that it does not change how recapture days are counted.

H-1B recapture calculation: a worked example

Suppose you changed status from STEM OPT to H-1B on 2021-10-01 and have held H-1B status under approved petitions ever since, with no L-1 time. Without recapture, your six years in H-1B status run through 2027-09-30.

Worked example: recapture chart using the whole-calendar-day convention (illustrative dates)

Each figure excludes the departure and return dates; Trip 1 counts December 18 through January 8. If USCIS granted all 102 days, the six-year limit would move from 2027-09-30 to 2028-01-10 (our arithmetic). Three caveats:

• It is a request, not an entitlement. A trip with weak proof may be dropped.
• One petition has limits. DHS notes that "in no case may an H-1B approval period exceed 3 years or the period of LCA validity," citing 8 CFR 214.2(h)(9)(iii)(A)(1).
• Later trips can be claimed later. Absences after a filing can go into a future petition.

Recaptured days are never a reason to take a risky trip; check our guide on when not to travel on H-1B before booking around a pending extension.

What evidence proves time outside the US?

The regulation names "copies of passport stamps, Arrival-Departure Records (Form I-94), or airline tickets, together with a chart, indicating the dates spent outside of the United States, and referencing the relevant independent documentary evidence." When a commenter asked DHS in 2016 to allow employer, school or medical records too, DHS replied that the regulation "is broad enough to allow for submission of the additional types of records."

The CBP I-94 website shows "your U.S. arrival and departure history for the past 10 years (certain types of travel history may not be provided)" and warns that it "is a tool to assist you but not an official record for legal purposes." CBP's I-94 page adds that if you leave by land, "your departure may not be recorded accurately," lists "entry stamps in a passport, transportation tickets, pay stubs and/or other receipts" as evidence of departure, and notes you can ask Canadian or Mexican officers for an entry stamp. See our guides to reading your I-94 travel history and proving a departure missing from your I-94 record.

Evidence checklist for a recapture packet (as of 2026-11)

How to build your recapture packet, step by step

1. Download your CBP travel history for every passport number used since your first H-1B or L-1 start date, and save each PDF with the date you pulled it.
2. Gather every I-797 approval notice (I-797A or I-797B) to mark each petition's validity window; only absences inside it qualify.
3. Scan every stamped passport page, current and expired, and label each scan with its trip number.
4. Download boarding passes, e-tickets or trip histories from airline accounts, especially where stamps are missing or faint.
5. Request PTO approvals and expense reports from HR or the travel and expense system, starting with land trips to Canada or Mexico.
6. Submit a request through CBP's FOIA process if you need records older than ten years or gaps remain after steps 1 to 5. Since 2026-01-22, CBP takes requests only through its SecureRelease portal or FOIA.gov, not by mail, fax or email.
7. Build the chart: one row per trip with departure date, return date, full days abroad, running total and the exhibit labels that prove each date.
8. Send the chart and exhibits to your employer's immigration attorney, who decides how many days to request on Form I-129 and which counting method to use.
9. Keep the filed chart and the approval notice; later extensions and green-card filings rely on the same history.

Can time on H-4 or L-1 be recaptured?

They work in opposite ways. L-1 time inside the US counts toward your six H-1B years, because DHS subtracts time in "valid H-1B or L-1 status." H-4 time inside the US never counted, so there is nothing to recapture; it is still available.

• L-1 to H-1B. Your L-1 years in the US reduce your remaining H-1B time; your days abroad during L-1 validity do not. The six-year rule counts only time "in the United States," and the regulation's AC21 paragraph refers to "unused H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B time spent outside of the United States." L-1 has its own limits (L-1A 7 years, L-1B 5).
• H-1B to H-4 and back. Say you held H-1B for three years, then spent two on H-4 as a spouse. The H-4 years do not reduce your H-1B time, so roughly three years remain.
• H-1B to F-1 and back. F-1 and OPT time inside the US does not count either. Your DSO handles your F-1 record; the H-1B time question goes to an immigration attorney.

Can a new employer or a cap-exempt employer use my recaptured time?

Generally yes. The regulation lets time "be recaptured in a subsequent H-1B petition on behalf of the alien" and makes it "the H-1B petitioner's burden" to prove it, without limiting that to the employer you had when you traveled. Our reading is that a transfer petition from a new employer, or a petition from a cap-exempt university, can request the same days.

Cap counting is a separate question:

• If you were counted against the cap in the six-year period, 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(C)(2) says a recapture petition "will not subject the beneficiary to the H-1B numerical cap, whether or not the alien has been physically outside the United States for 1 year or more." If you have been abroad that long, the petitioner may instead seek a new period of admission under INA 214(g)(1), the cap.
• If you have only worked cap-exempt and were never counted, recaptured days do not change that. Leaving cap-exempt employment for a cap-subject employer generally means going through the cap; see moving from a cap-exempt to a cap-subject H-1B employer.

Recapture vs AC21 vs the one-year reset

The tools combine: under 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(D)(5), an AC21 petition may also request recaptured time. It does not work the other way: DHS wrote that "the remainder of any time granted pursuant to an AC21 extension cannot be recaptured."

What is changing around H-1B extensions in November 2026?

• Deference (proposed). USCIS still defers to prior approvals on extensions with the same facts under 8 CFR 214.1(c)(5). DHS proposed deleting that rule for all I-129 extensions, with comments due "on or before November 13, 2026" (Federal Register notice). DHS's own estimate is about 6,044 extra RFEs a year. Our reading: if it became final, each extension would stand more on its own record, so a complete chart matters more. See our breakdown of the deference proposal.
• 9-11 fee (in effect). The USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055 (edition 10/26/26), lists $4,000 for H-1B petitions from covered employers (50 or more US employees, more than half in H-1B or L-1), extensions included, for petitions postmarked 2026-09-09 through 2027-09-30. An amended petition that does not extend status is exempt. The petitioner submits it with the I-129.
• New I-129 edition and addresses (scheduled). From 2026-11-09, USCIS accepts only the 09/09/26 edition, and old filing addresses work only for petitions postmarked on or before 2026-11-09 (USCIS I-129 page).
• Timing. The USCIS processing times tool showed 11.5 months for an H-1B extension on 2026-11-01 (80% of cases completed within that time); premium processing is 15 business days for most I-129s. Build your chart before HR starts the extension.

The rest of the filing is covered in our H-1B extension eligibility and filing checklist.

Common mistakes

Misconception: "Recapture expires if you do not use it within six years of the trip." Correction: in its 2016 final rule, DHS wrote that "there is no time limitation on recapturing the remainder of the initial 6-year period of H-1B admission." The limit is that you must claim it before the full period is used.

• Counting travel days or day trips. Under the conservative convention, departure and return days are US days, and 24 hours or less recaptures nothing.
• Relying on CBP travel history alone. It is "not an official record for legal purposes." Back each trip with stamps, tickets or employer records.
• Charting trips outside a petition's validity. A trip on OPT before your H-1B start date, or between petitions, was never H-1B time; listing it overstates the request.
• Reconstructing trips in year six. Airline accounts close, passports get cancelled, and a former employer's HR system may be out of reach. Log each trip when you return.
• Using your tax day count. The IRS counts any part of a day in the US; that rule is for taxes, and residency questions belong with a tax professional who handles nonresident returns.

Frequently asked questions

What is H-1B recapture?

H-1B recapture lets your employer add back time you spent outside the US for more than 24 hours while you held an approved H-1B petition, so it does not use up your six-year limit. The rule, 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(C), is in effect as of November 2026, and USCIS may grant all, part or none of the days requested.

Do partial days abroad count?

Not by themselves. The regulation recaptures only time abroad exceeding 24 hours, so a same-day trip adds nothing. A widely used conservative practitioner convention counts only calendar days spent entirely outside the US, treating departure and return days as US days; your employer's immigration attorney chooses the method.

What evidence proves time outside the US?

The regulation names copies of passport stamps, Form I-94 records or airline tickets, together with a chart that references each document, and DHS said in 2016 that other records such as employer records also fit. CBP's online travel history covers the past 10 years but is not an official record for legal purposes, so back every trip with independent proof.

Can time on H-4 or L-1 be recaptured?

They work in opposite ways. Time in the US in L-1 status counts toward the six-year H-1B limit, though days abroad during L-1 validity can be claimed back. Time in the US in H-4, F-1 or any status other than H-1B or L-1 never counted, as DHS explained in its 2016 final rule, still in effect in November 2026.

Can a new employer or a cap-exempt employer use my recaptured time?

Generally yes, in our reading, because the regulation lets a subsequent H-1B petition request the time and puts the burden on that petitioner, without tying it to the employer you had when you traveled. Cap counting is separate. If you were counted against the cap in the six-year period, a recapture petition is not subject to the cap, but recaptured days alone do not let a never-counted cap-exempt worker move to a cap-subject employer.

Sources

• 8 CFR 214.2, including (h)(13)(iii), eCFR
• DHS final rule, 81 FR 82398 (2016-11-18), govinfo
• H-1B Specialty Occupations, USCIS
• I-94 website and Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94, CBP
• Freedom of Information Act, CBP
• I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, USCIS
• Fee Schedule, Form G-1055 (edition 10/26/26), USCIS
• Removing Deference to Prior USCIS Determinations of Eligibility (proposed rule), Federal Register
• Processing times and premium processing, USCIS
• Policy Manual, Volume 1, Part B, Chapter 6, USCIS
• Substantial presence test, IRS

How we checked this: we read 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii) on eCFR and compared it with the 2016 DHS final rule, then checked the CBP I-94 website, CBP's FOIA page, the G-1055 fee schedule and the USCIS, IRS and Federal Register pages above on 2026-11-01. The worked example uses illustrative dates and our own day counts.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; your own I-797 notices, your I-94 and your employer's immigration attorney govern your case.

If your six-year clock is part of a job decision, such as a transfer to a new sponsor or a move to a cap-exempt employer, F1Jobs helps international professionals find employers that sponsor H-1B workers.