H-1B Remote Work Rules: When Your Home Becomes a Worksite

By Sumit Patel · Last updated October 15, 2026

Yes, you can work from home on an H-1B visa, but your home becomes a worksite. If it is in the same metro area as the worksite on your LCA, your employer only posts a notice there. If it is outside that area, your employer needs a new LCA and must file an amended H-1B petition before you start working there.

Below are the exact rules, quoted from the Department of Labor regulations and USCIS guidance, a table of common situations, and the limits on short stays elsewhere. Employers should also read the H-1B remote work LCA amendment process.

What counts as a worksite on an H-1B?

A worksite is wherever you actually do the work. The regulation defines "place of employment" as "the worksite or physical location where the work actually is performed" (20 CFR 655.715). There is no exception for a home office, so if you regularly work from home, your home is a worksite.

Two kinds of places are not worksites, even if you do some work there:

• Developmental activity: a management conference, staff seminar or formal training course away from your usual location.
• Short visits required by your job: if you work mostly at one location and travel occasionally, a visit of up to 10 consecutive workdays is not a worksite. For a peripatetic job (one whose normal duties need frequent travel), the limit is 5 consecutive workdays per visit.

Even at a non-worksite, your employer must reimburse your travel costs, because they are ordinary business expenses.

Is my home in the same area as my LCA worksite?

It is if it lies within "normal commuting distance" of the LCA worksite, which the rule calls the area of intended employment. Any place inside the same Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) automatically counts. A larger Combined Statistical Area does not automatically count, and a place just outside an MSA border can still be within commuting distance (20 CFR 655.715).

MSAs come from county lines, not city names, so look up the county of your home and of the LCA worksite. Prevailing wages follow the same areas, which is why they are a good clue. In certified FY2025 LCAs for Level II software developers, New York and Jersey City show the same median prevailing wage ($123,700 and $123,700) because they share one MSA. San Francisco ($155,600) and San Jose ($172,900) differ because they are separate MSAs, even though they are 50 miles apart.

Do I need a new LCA or an amended petition?

You need both only when you start working regularly in an area your current LCA does not cover. Moves inside the same area, short placements within the workday limits and visits to non-worksites need neither. Find your situation below.

"Same metro area" means the same area of intended employment, as defined in 20 CFR 655.715.

How long can I work outside my LCA area?

Up to 30 workdays in a one-year period in any one area, without a new LCA. The limit rises to 60 workdays only if your employer can show all three of the following (20 CFR 655.735(c)):

1. You keep an office or workstation at your permanent worksite.
2. You spend a substantial amount of time at the permanent worksite during the year.
3. Your U.S. home is in the area of the permanent worksite, not the short-term area. Evidence includes your mailing address, lease, bank accounts, driver's license and where your dependents live.

The fine print matters:

• A workday is any day you do any work there. Three separate days at three different sites in the same area count as three workdays.
• The year is the calendar year or the employer's fiscal year, whichever the employer chooses.
• Your employer pays you more, not less. You keep the wage required at your permanent worksite, plus the actual cost of lodging, travel, meals and incidentals, on workdays and non-workdays.
• When the limit is reached, the employer must either get an LCA for that area or end the placement. Going over is an LCA violation and costs the employer the short-term option in that area.
• It cannot be your first placement, and an employer cannot rotate workers in and out to avoid filing an LCA.

Can I work remotely from another country on an H-1B?

H-1B status covers work in the United States only, so work you do abroad falls outside it. No U.S. rule turns a stay abroad into an H-1B worksite, and the other country's own immigration, tax and labor laws apply to work done there.

Time abroad does not use up your H-1B years: days outside the U.S. of more than 24 hours can be recaptured toward the six-year maximum (8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(C)). That rule does not say you may work while away. Get written approval from your employer and advice for both countries before you work from abroad.

Can I be a digital nomad on an H-1B?

Not in practice. Every new area beyond the short-term limits needs a certified LCA and an amended petition filed before you start there. The regulation also bars rotating workers through an area in short stints to avoid filing, giving 20-day rotations as its own example of a violation (20 CFR 655.735(e)).

What should I do before changing where I work?

1. Find the county of your current LCA worksite and of the new location, and check whether they share an MSA.
2. Tell HR and your employer's immigration counsel in writing, with the address and the date you want to start.
3. Same area: confirm your employer will post the LCA notice for your home before your first day there.
4. New area: wait until the new LCA is certified and the amended petition is filed. Keep the USCIS receipt notice.
5. Short stay elsewhere: count your workdays in that area against the 30 workday limit.
6. Tell payroll about any state change, because tax withholding is separate. See the H-1B remote work state tax guide.
7. Keep copies of the LCA, the receipt notice and your addresses for future extensions and green card filings.

What if I already moved without telling my employer?

Tell your employer and its immigration counsel now. The regulation requires the amended petition to be filed before work starts at a new place outside the LCA area (8 CFR 214.2(h)(2)(i)(E)), and waiting only adds days of unauthorized work.

USCIS has treated a missing amendment as a status problem for the worker, not only a paperwork problem for the employer. Its 2015 guidance warned that workers whose employers missed the filing "will not be maintaining nonimmigrant status" (USCIS PM-602-0120). Your options depend on your facts, so get advice on your own case.

How common are amended H-1B petitions?

Common. In FY2025, 17.1% of certified H-1B LCAs with the field filled in were filed for an amended petition (86,280 LCAs). These cover every kind of material change, not only moves, but they show that amending is routine for employers.

Frequently asked questions