DHS Wants to Kill the 60-Day Grace Period for H-1B and Other Workers

Right now, if an H-1B worker loses their job, they get up to 60 days to find a new employer, change status, or leave. A DHS proposed rule published September 11, 2026 would take that cushion away for H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, E, and other employment-based nonimmigrants, and their dependents. Lose the job, and you lose your status the same day. The comment period runs through November 10.

The 60-day grace period has been in the regulations since 2017, at 8 CFR 214.1(l). It gives laid-off workers a short, predictable runway to line up a new sponsor, file a change of status, or wind down and depart without instantly falling out of status. The proposal deletes it.

Charles Kuck flagged this one as it was moving, and his objection is the obvious practical one: a hard cutoff on the last day of work ignores how job transitions actually happen.

DHS frames the grace period as a mismatch: an employment-based status is tied to actually working for the sponsoring employer, so once the job ends, the agency argues, the basis for status is gone. The counterargument, the one a court will hear, is the same flaw that just sank the F-1 fixed admission rule. An agency undoing a long-standing policy has to weigh the reliance interests built up around it, and workers and employers have relied on this cushion for eight years.

This is still a proposal, and it will be litigated if it is finalized. But because a layoff can come without warning, the smart move is to plan as if the cushion could disappear.

What this means for work-visa holders and their employers:

• Nothing has changed yet. The 60-day grace period is still in effect. The rule applies only if and when a final version takes effect.
• Move fast on a new petition. H-1B portability under 8 U.S.C. § 1184(n) lets you start work for a new employer as soon as a nonfrivolous petition is filed. That is the tool to use if the runway shrinks.
• Have a backup basis to stay. A pending change of status, a spouse’s status, or an independent work-authorization safety net is what keeps you in status if the grace period is gone.
• Comment before November 10, 2026. The reliance record built during the comment period is what challengers will use in court.

For now, the grace period stands. But between this rule, the fixed admission period rule, and the $103,265 H-1B fee, the pattern is consistent: shrink the margin for error around legal status, and dare the courts to stop it.