NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Washington, DC, August 8, 2026: The Trump administration is moving toward eliminating a longstanding 60-day grace period that allows H-1B and several other categories of foreign workers to remain in the United States temporarily after their employment ends.
The Department of Homeland Security has submitted a proposed regulation, identified as RIN 1615-AD22, for White House regulatory review. Immigration law firm Fragomen reported that the proposal is currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget and would seek to eliminate the grace period available to certain nonimmigrant workers and their dependents when employment ends before their authorized stay expires.
The proposed regulation has not taken effect, and its full text has not yet been made public. The existing 60-day grace period therefore remains in place.
Under current federal regulations, workers in several employment-based nonimmigrant classifications can receive a grace period of up to 60 consecutive days after their employment ends, or until the expiration of their authorized stay, whichever comes first.
The provision covers workers in the E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 and TN classifications, along with their dependents. The grace period applies when employment ends before the worker’s authorized validity period expires and is not limited to layoffs.
For H-1B workers in particular, the period can provide crucial time to find another employer willing to sponsor them, seek a change to another immigration status or make arrangements to leave the United States.
USCIS has previously explained that the grace period gives nonimmigrant workers time to find new employment and allows them to seek a change to another nonimmigrant status. The agency has also said that workers who take qualifying action during the grace period may be able to remain in the United States beyond the 60 days while their immigration request is pending.
The 60-day provision is codified at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2). USCIS has previously acknowledged that changing the grace period requires regulatory rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The current protection dates to a DHS regulation finalized in 2016 and implemented in January 2017 as part of broader changes affecting high-skilled immigrant and nonimmigrant workers.
The latest move could be particularly significant for Indian professionals because Indians make up the largest nationality group in the H-1B program. Many Indian workers also face lengthy waits for employment-based green cards, making continued maintenance of lawful nonimmigrant status especially important while they remain in the permanent-residence queue.
However, precisely what would happen to a worker immediately after losing a job under the proposed system cannot yet be established from the publicly available information. Because DHS has not released the proposed regulatory text, details about possible exceptions, transition periods or the extent of agency discretion remain unknown.
The proposal must first clear federal regulatory review. Fragomen said that after the review is completed, the proposed regulation is expected to be published in the Federal Register, where the public would have an opportunity to comment. The agency would then have to consider the comments before issuing a final regulation.
That means H-1B workers who lose their jobs today continue to be eligible for the existing grace period of up to 60 days, subject to the requirements of current immigration regulations.
The proposal is the latest in a series of immigration policy changes affecting legal immigrants and temporary visa holders under the Trump administration. Until DHS publishes the proposed rule, however, the exact scope and consequences of eliminating the 60-day grace period will remain unclear.
