September 10, 2026 · Immigration, Detention & Civil Rights
· Proposed rule
Confirmed
DHS Moves to End the 60-Day Grace Period for H-1B Workers Who Lose Their Jobs
DHS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted an unpublished rule on September 10, 2026, proposing to eliminate the 60-day grace period that lets holders of H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, TN and other employment-based visas remain in the U.S. to find new work after losing the job tied to their status; the rule was scheduled to formally publish September 11 and open a two-month public comment period. The grace period dates to a 2016 rule that took effect January 17, 2017, three days before Trump's first inauguration.
Under the proposal, a visa holder who loses a qualifying job would have to leave the country immediately, with spouses and dependent children losing status at the same time. DHS frames the change as reducing "administrative burden" and says it would push employers toward hiring U.S. workers instead, part of a broader tightening of high-skilled visa rules that has also included a since-blocked $100,000 H-1B petition fee a federal judge in Boston ruled an unauthorized tax.
The rule is not yet final; it remains open for public comment following its September 11 publication in the Federal Register.
Under the proposal, a visa holder who loses a qualifying job would have to leave the country immediately, with spouses and dependent children losing status at the same time. DHS frames the change as reducing "administrative burden" and says it would push employers toward hiring U.S. workers instead, part of a broader tightening of high-skilled visa rules that has also included a since-blocked $100,000 H-1B petition fee a federal judge in Boston ruled an unauthorized tax.
The rule is not yet final; it remains open for public comment following its September 11 publication in the Federal Register.