High ImpactProposed Rule/Department of Homeland Security

DHS Proposes Ending the 60-Day Grace Period for H-1B and Other Work Visa Holders

September 11, 2026

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DHS wants to remove the up to 60-day grace period that currently gives laid-off workers on several employment visas time to find a new sponsor or change status. Under the proposal, they would be expected to leave the country immediately unless otherwise authorized to stay. Public comments are open until November 10, 2026.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed scrapping the up to 60-day grace period that currently follows the end of employment for workers in several nonimmigrant categories. If the proposal is finalized, a worker whose job ends would be expected to depart the United States immediately, unless they are otherwise authorized to remain.

This is a proposed rule, not a final one. Nothing changes until DHS publishes a final rule, and the document does not identify an effective date.

Key Points

What: DHS proposes to remove 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2), which provides the up to 60-day discretionary grace period after employment ends.
Who: Workers in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 and TN classifications, and their dependents.
When: Comments are due November 10, 2026; no effective date is specified.
Impact: Workers who lose a job would no longer have a regulatory grace period to find new sponsorship or change status.

What is changing

Under current regulations, workers in the listed classifications, and their dependents, are not considered to have failed to maintain status for up to 60 days after the employment or activity that supported their status ends. DHS can shorten or eliminate that period at its discretion, typically when it reviews a later petition or application to extend, change or adjust status.

The proposal would remove that provision entirely. DHS says status in these categories is tied by statute to the underlying employment or activity, and that the grace period disconnects the two. It would require departure upon failure to maintain that employment or activity, unless the person is otherwise authorized to lawfully remain.

DHS's stated reasoning

DHS says it originally created the grace period to encourage workers to stay and pursue other immigration options, and to help employers change workers' employment more easily. It now says that rulemaking did not sufficiently consider the negative impacts. DHS also cites reducing the administrative burden on USCIS.

The agency describes the move as restoring a previous, long-standing policy.

Comment period

Written comments must be submitted through Regulations.gov (Docket No. USCIS-2026-0364) by November 10, 2026. DHS says it will not treat emails or letters sent to officials, or hand-delivered or mailed comments, as comments on the rule. The most useful comments reference specific parts of the proposal and include supporting data or authority.

What Remains Unclear

The excerpt available here does not cover the proposal's cost estimates, its discussion of reliance interests, or alternatives DHS considered. It also does not show how the rule would treat people with pending filings, or whether any transition period would apply. Check the full 22-page notice (91 FR 57807) for those details before relying on this summary.

Government source · federalregister.gov Download PDF

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