Not exactly, the H-1s are valid for 6 years from the date of issue, and you can re-capture all time spent outside the US. There's a 60 day grace period where yo

Not exactly, the H-1s are valid for 6 years from the date of issue, and you can re-capture all time spent outside the US. There's a 60 day grace period where you can do your job search from within the US (prior to 2017 I believe you had to get out immediately and do your job search from abroad) but you can file for a new cap-exempt H-1B for the remaining balance of time - plus recapture all time spent outside the US even on holiday - up to 6 years from the date you got it. [edit] Actually as of 2017, there's no time limit to apply for recapture. So if you came to the US on an H-1B, worked for 1 year, then you can apply for a new cap-exempt H-1B for the balance of the 5 years remaining at any time in the future. [1] [1] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/11/18/2016-27540/retention-of-eb-1-eb-2-and-eb-3-immigrant-workers-and-program-improvements-affecting-high-skilled#p-685 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/11/18/2016-27...