Unlawful Presence

<p><b>Unlawful presence</b> is a legal counting of days when someone is in the U.S. without authorization. For example, if an H-1B's I-94 expired and no extension was filed, from the next day forward they accrue unlawful presence.</p><p>Consequences:</p><ul><li>180 days or more can result in a 3-year bar to returning</li><li>365 days or more leads to a 10-year bar (upon departure)</li></ul><p>Note that being out of status doesn't always equal unlawful presence – for instance, an F-1 who violates status but whose I-94 is D/S doesn't accrue UP until a government finding. For H-1B, since I-94 has a date, expiration means out of status and unlawful presence count starts next day. Staying within grace periods or while an extension is pending is not unlawful presence.</p>