'How Long Do You Plan to Stay With Us?' Answering the Commitment Question When You Need Sponsorship

Employers ask how long you will stay because sponsoring you costs time and money, so here is an honest answer and the limits on what a repayment clause can make you pay.

Part of our guide to answering the sponsorship question.

When an interviewer asks "How long do you plan to stay with the company?", the best interview answer for someone who needs visa sponsorship is a career plan tied to this role: what you want to learn, build and own over the next few years, and why this team is where you want to do it. Do not promise a number of years, and do not forecast where you will live in ten. As of November 1, 2026, nothing in the H-1B rules makes you stay with a sponsor for a set period, and federal labor rules limit what an employer can charge you if you leave.

Status line, as of 2026-11-01. In effect: DOL's H-1B wage rule at 20 CFR 655.731 (no penalty for leaving early; limits on recouping petition costs) and its PERM payment ban at 20 CFR 656.12. In effect on paper, blocked in practice: the $100,000 H-1B fee. Proposed: the $103,265 cap-subject fee and the end of the 60-day worker grace period (comments close 2026-11-10; a closed comment period is not a final rule).

How do you answer "how long do you plan to stay with the company?"

Give a horizon tied to the work, not a promise. Name two or three things you want to accomplish in this role over the next two to three years, say you want to grow with a company that invests in its people, and ask how people at your level usually progress. That answers the employer's real worry: whether sponsoring you will pay off.

A good answer has three moves and takes under a minute:

1. Anchor the answer to this role's milestones. "In year one I want to own X; by year two or three I want to be leading Y." Milestones sound like a plan; a number of years sounds like a bargaining position.
2. Signal that you understand the investment, in one clause: "I know bringing someone on is a real commitment, and I'm looking for a place to build, not a stepping stone."
3. Return the question. "How have people who joined at this level grown here?"

Sample answers you can adapt

New grad on OPT, data analyst role:

"I'm looking for a team where I can build depth. In the first year I'd want to own the weekly reporting you described. By year two or three I'd like to be designing the experiments, not just reading them. If the problems keep getting harder, I don't see a reason to look elsewhere. How have analysts who started at this level moved up here?"

H-1B worker changing employers:

"I'm making this move because the work I want to do next, payments infrastructure at scale, is what this team does. I want to grow into a larger scope here over several years. What would a strong first year look like?"

Notice what both answers leave out: the visa. Sponsorship has its own question, and how to answer "Why should we sponsor you?" is the place to make the value case.

Why employers ask the commitment question when you need sponsorship

Because sponsorship is an investment with a delay. The employer pays attorney and filing costs, may wait on a lottery it does not control, and spends months bringing you up to speed. Underneath the polite wording, the question is "Will you leave as soon as the paperwork is done?"

• The lottery. For FY2026, USCIS counted 343,981 eligible registrations and selected 120,141, according to its H-1B electronic registration page. FY2028 registration has not been announced.
• The fee headlines. As of 2026-11-01 the $100,000 fee is not being collected; USCIS says a court "vacated agency guidance implementing the $100,000 payment requirement" (Form I-129 page). Its guidance also said change-of-status petitions granted inside the US, the usual OPT-to-H-1B route, were never covered, though a denied change of status would be. Hiring managers still read the headlines.
• Silence in postings. According to a single-vendor review by Match.dev (postings read 2026-10-13), 88.1% of 2,718 US engineering roles said nothing about sponsorship, so the question often surfaces in the interview instead.

The interviewer is rarely hostile. They are pricing risk, and a real plan makes the risk look smaller.

The honest frame: a career plan, not a residence promise

The common mistake is answering a question about the job as if it were about your life. You owe the employer an honest picture of what you want to do in this role, not a forecast of where you will live in 2035.

The frame works on OPT, STEM OPT or H-1B because it never depends on a promise you cannot keep. A related question, where you see yourself in five years when your H-1B is a lottery away, is about trajectory; this one is about tenure.

Is it okay to say you may return home someday?

Yes, in a job interview, if it is true. The employer is asking about the next few years of your work, not your legal intent, and "someday" is true of almost everyone. You do not need to raise it; if asked, answer honestly and bring it back to the role.

"Long term I keep an open mind, but my plans for the next several years are built around this kind of work, and this team in particular" is truthful and complete, and it also answers "Do you plan to stay in the US long term?" If the question becomes "Do you plan to go back to your home country?", it has drifted from the job. Answer the part that matters to the employer, your plan for the role, without discussing family or nationality. Never invent plans in either direction.

How is this different from the visa interview intent question?

It is a different audience applying a different test. An employer weighs business risk. A consular officer, and a CBP officer at entry, applies INA 214(b): every applicant "shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes" otherwise, with H-1B and L workers excepted (8 U.S.C. 1184(b)). F-1 adds its own condition, "a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning" (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(F)(i)). That is why H-1B is called "dual intent" and F-1 is not.

Since 2025-10-01, F-1 and H-1B applicants, renewals included, generally interview in person under the State Department's interview waiver update.

Tell the truth in every room; honest answers to questions with different purposes should never contradict each other. For the consular side, see answering "What are your plans after graduation?" when you plan to use OPT and dual intent visas compared. If an immigrant petition has been filed for you while you are on F-1, ask a licensed immigration attorney about it before you travel; SEVIS and I-20 questions go to your DSO.

Can an employer make you promise to stay after sponsoring you?

It can ask, and it can write an agreed employment period into a contract. No immigration rule binds you to a sponsor: an H-1B worker can resign, and a new employer files its own petition. What an employer cannot do is make an H-1B worker pay a penalty for leaving early: "The employer is not permitted to require (directly or indirectly) that the nonimmigrant pay a penalty for ceasing employment with the employer prior to an agreed date" (20 CFR 655.731(c)(10)(i)(A)).

The next paragraph permits "bona fide liquidated damages": amounts fixed at signing that reasonably estimate the employer's loss. State law draws the line between those and a prohibited penalty; the regulation notes a payment is a penalty "where it is the result of fraud or where it cloaks oppression," and that the amount should generally reflect how much of the contract you completed. That is fact-specific, which is why a clause needs an attorney's eyes.

If you leave or lose an H-1B job, the discretionary grace period of up to 60 days at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) still applies as of 2026-11-01. DHS has only proposed removing it for workers; the F-1 grace period after a program or OPT ends is a separate rule the proposal does not cover.

Can an employer make you repay H-1B costs if you leave?

Partly. DOL's rules ban penalties for leaving, bar you from paying any part of two USCIS fees, and treat LCA and petition costs as the employer's business expense, which cannot be pushed onto you if it cuts your pay below the required wage. Some repayment arrangements can still be lawful, so the wording matters.

Under 20 CFR 655.731(c)(9)(ii), a deduction "may not recoup a business expense(s) of the employer (including attorney fees and other costs connected to the performance of H-1B program functions...)", with the LCA and H-1B petition given as examples; (c)(9)(iii)(C) repeats that bar for deductions you authorize in writing. Paragraph (c)(12) adds that an employer who "depresses the employee's wages below the required wage" by imposing those expenses has made an unauthorized deduction, even if nothing appears on a payslip.

Who can be charged for what (as of 2026-11-01)

Sign-on bonus and relocation repayments are a separate contract question, though anything taken from H-1B wages must meet DOL's deduction rules. I-140 and I-485 costs are less clearly regulated, and the 655.731 protections are written for H-1B workers, so if a clause could apply while you are still on OPT, ask the attorney how it applies to you.

What to do when your offer includes an H-1B repayment agreement

1. Request the complete agreement from HR in writing, including any separate "immigration cost" agreement the offer letter references.
2. Ask for an itemized list of covered costs: LCA (Form ETA-9035), Form I-129, premium processing, PERM, I-140, I-485, relocation or sign-on bonus.
3. Compare each item with 20 CFR 655.731(c)(9)-(c)(10), 20 CFR 656.12(b) and Fact Sheet #62H, and flag anything labelled a fee or penalty for leaving.
4. Have a licensed employment or immigration attorney in your state review the clause before you sign, because the penalty line turns on state law.
5. Contact the DOL Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243 (listed on Fact Sheet #62H) if an employer later deducts petition costs or demands a penalty; its H-1B program page explains the required-wage obligation.

Asking which costs a clause covers is a normal part of reviewing an offer. Our guide to negotiating green card sponsorship into your offer covers putting requests like this in writing.

Do you have to stay with your employer after your green card?

No. As of 2026-11-01, no statute, regulation or USCIS policy sets a minimum period with your sponsor after approval, and there is no "six-month rule." The test is intent: under 8 CFR 245.25, you and the employer must have intended the sponsored job, or a job you ported to, when your I-485 was decided. The USCIS Policy Manual's AC21 chapter says "USCIS focuses on whether the petition represented the truly intended employment."

The 180-day number people remember applies before approval: an I-485 pending at least 180 days can port to a same-or-similar job under INA 204(j). Our guide to how long you have to stay with your employer after your green card is approved walks through the scenarios. In the interview, once sponsorship has come up, you can welcome a long-term path, green card included, without promising a tenure.

A worked example: one candidate, three conversations

Arjun, a hypothetical candidate on STEM OPT, is interviewing at a mid-size fintech.

Arjun answered with two milestones, one line on the investment and one question back, and treated the clause as paperwork to clarify, not an accusation.

Common mistakes

• Promising a number. "I'll stay at least five years" is unverifiable, sounds rehearsed, and invites the employer to put it in a contract.
• Making the visa the reason. Leading with sponsorship turns a fit question into a cost question.
• Mixing up the two intent questions. Telling a hiring manager "I'll definitely go home after OPT" answers a question nobody in that room asked. At a consulate, the question is legal intent; answer what is asked, truthfully.
• Signing a repayment clause without an itemized list. "All immigration costs" can bundle costs you can be charged with costs you cannot.
• Assuming every clawback is illegal. Bona fide liquidated damages and some bonus repayments can be lawful; get the clause reviewed.
• Believing a green card locks you in. There is no minimum stay; intent at approval is the test.

Frequently asked questions

How should I answer how long I plan to stay with the company?

Give a horizon tied to the role rather than a promise. Name two or three things you want to accomplish there over the next few years, say you want to grow with an employer that invests in you, and ask how people at your level usually progress. That answers the real worry behind the question, which is whether sponsoring you will pay off.

Can an employer make me promise to stay after sponsoring me?

An employer can ask, and it can write an agreed employment period into a contract, but no immigration rule binds you to a sponsor. For H-1B workers, DOL's rule at 20 CFR 655.731(c)(10)(i), in effect as of November 1, 2026, bars any penalty for leaving before an agreed date, while bona fide liquidated damages can be allowed under state law. Have an attorney read any such clause before you sign.

Do I have to stay with my employer after my green card?

No. As of November 1, 2026, no statute, regulation or USCIS policy sets a minimum period with your sponsor after approval. Under 8 CFR 245.25 the question is whether you and the employer genuinely intended the sponsored job, or a job you ported to, when your I-485 was decided. If your timeline is unusual, for example you accepted another job before approval, talk to an immigration attorney before approval.

Is it okay to say I may return home someday?

In a job interview, yes, if it is true and you keep the focus on the role, because the employer is asking about the next few years of your work, not your legal intent. A consular officer's intent question is different. INA 214(b) presumes an F-1 applicant is an intending immigrant and F-1 requires a foreign residence you do not intend to abandon, while H-1B workers are exempt from that presumption. Answer each question truthfully on its own terms.

Can an employer make me repay H-1B costs if I leave?

Partly. Under DOL's H-1B rules, in effect as of November 1, 2026, you can never be made to pay a penalty for leaving early or any part of the ACWIA filing fee or the fraud prevention and detection fee. The employer's LCA, petition and attorney costs cannot be shifted to you in a way that cuts your pay below the required wage. Bona fide liquidated damages can be lawful under state law, so have an attorney review the clause before you sign.

Sources

• 20 CFR 655.731, H-1B wage requirements, deductions and penalties (Cornell LII)
• 20 CFR 656.12, improper commerce and payment in PERM (Cornell LII)
• 8 U.S.C. 1184(b), presumption of immigrant status (Cornell LII)
• 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(F), F-1 student definition (Cornell LII)
• DOL Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #62H, deductions from an H-1B worker's pay
• DOL Wage and Hour Division, H-1B Program
• USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part E, Chapter 5, Job Portability after Adjustment Filing
• USCIS, Form I-129 and H-1B electronic registration process
• U.S. Department of State, interview waiver update (2025-09-18)
• Federal Register, eliminating the discretionary 60-day grace period (proposed)
• Match.dev, visa sponsorship in engineering job postings (vendor data)

How we checked this: on 2026-11-01 we read 20 CFR 655.731 and 656.12 and 8 U.S.C. 1101 and 1184 on Cornell LII, DOL Fact Sheet #62H, the DOL H-1B program page and the USCIS Policy Manual's AC21 chapter, and checked every status and date against our dated policy brief.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; your own offer letter, I-20, I-94 and approval notices govern, and your DSO (for F-1, OPT and SEVIS) or a licensed immigration attorney (for petitions, contracts and status strategy) should answer questions about your situation.

If you are on OPT or STEM OPT and want help finding employers that sponsor and preparing for the conversations that follow, F1Jobs works with international candidates on exactly that.