Number of maternity or paternity holidays while working on H1B?

  1. Are there any restrictions on the number of weeks of maternity leave a mother or paternity leaves a father can take while on H-1?
  2. Similar question is for Sabbatical leave too. Can i take unpaid leave for 6 months or so?
  3. If yes for long leaves, can i still maintain my H1B status and stay in US?

No Official Limit of Maternity Leaves On H1B Visa

There are no written or documented limits on number of leaves that a person can take as maternity or paternity leaves while working on H1B visa.
The general understanding is to follow the company specific policy or keep the leaves at reasonable level.
For example, maternity/paternity leaves could be for 3-6 weeks at maximum in USA.

Sabbatical leaves on H1B

You can take sabbatical leaves on H1B visa.

The problem arises with respect to maintaining H1B status while you are on leave.

The short term leaves like 3-6 weeks are okay but you cannot stay in US on un-paid leave for a longer period.
This is simply because you stand to loose your H1B status without being paid.

Specifically, if you are looking at your H1B renewal in near future, it can pose a serious danger with respect to pay stubs for last couple of months.

We would recommend to keep the holidays to 3-6 weeks at maximum. If you want to go for sabbatical, take it and leave USA.

It is better to back to your country. Come back and re-join the company on H1B is the right way to handle it.

Remember: If you go on long term unpaid leave while on H1B, you need to change your status to some other visa.
If you do not, you would be effectively violating H1B status and accumulate out-of-status time.