DHS Proposes to Eliminate 60-Day Grace Period for H-1B and Other Nonimmigrant Workers After Unemployment
DHS Advances Proposal to Eliminate 60-Day Grace Period for H-1B Unemployment
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is advancing a proposal to eliminate the 60-day grace period for H-1B and other nonimmigrant workers after unemployment.
The proposal (RIN 1615-AD22) has been submitted for review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the White House. The current 2017 rule allows a maximum of 60 days to find a new employer or change status; if eliminated, unemployment will immediately affect legal status.
If the proposal is implemented, it will increase pressure on foreign workers to leave after termination, while reducing flexibility for U.S. employers in hiring, benefiting local labor forces and strict visa policies.
Source: Public Information
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The H-1B grace period has provided limited buffer for high-skilled nonimmigrants since the 2017 rule, covering categories such as E-1, E-2, L-1, O-1, TN, and their families, aimed at avoiding immediate job loss.
On the capital front, DHS's move aligns with tightening temporary worker policies, motivated by a desire to reduce the buffer advantages of foreign labor in workplace mobility, shifting resources from facilitating employers to stricter identity maintenance requirements.
Similar cases can be seen in the previous cancellation of automatic extensions for H-4 work permits and strengthened biometrics; the current phase is one of tightening visa rules from lenient buffers to immediate consequences.
Essentially, this represents a regulatory change: linking unemployment more closely to status, with the mechanism being the elimination of the grace period, which directly increases the cost of departure for foreign workers, forcing more cautious hiring and retention decisions.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Disappearance of the grace period leads to an immediate increase in mobility costs
Visa rules ultimately serve labor priority
Unemployment equals job loss, changing the balance of hiring dynamics