The US Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, said in a proposal published in the Federal Register on Sept. 10 that it wants to remove the 60-day grace period that now allows holders of H-1B and other temporary work visas to stay in the US after losing a job while looking for a new sponsoring employer. If the rule is finalized, a visa holder whose employment ends would be treated as out of lawful status the next day unless US Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, grants discretionary relief.
That would mean the person must leave the country immediately unless such relief is granted.
DHS targets existing grace-period rule
The provision DHS wants to remove is 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2). Under the current rule, an unemployed worker may remain in the US for "60 days or until the end date on the Form I-94, whichever is shorter," and that benefit can be used once during each approved petition validity period.
The report said DHS already has discretion to shorten the grace period or deny it altogether. Immigration law firms including Fragomen have observed a clear increase in denials in recent months. In that reading, the new proposal would turn an existing discretionary tool into a fixed rule.
Scope would extend beyond H-1B holders
According to the DHS notice, the change would also apply to the following visa categories if finalized:
- H-1B and H-1B1, the latter for specialty workers from Singapore and Chile
- E-1 treaty traders, E-2 treaty investors and E-3 specialty workers from Australia
- L-1 intracompany transferees in executive or managerial roles
- O-1 individuals with extraordinary ability
- TN professional workers
Dependent spouses and children tied to those visa categories would also be affected. Once the principal applicant loses status, the whole family could be required to leave the US.
DHS said in the proposal that the change would "more directly" connect work visa status to the job on which that status depends. It also said the rule could "improve program integrity" and "reduce administrative burden," while arguing that affected positions could be filled by US workers. If an employer later files a new petition for a worker who has already left the country, that person could still have a chance to re-enter.
Public comment period runs to Nov. 10, 2026
The proposal has entered a two-month public comment period, with submissions due by Nov. 10, 2026, through regulations.gov. It does not take effect unless and until the rule is finalized.
The 60-day grace period, introduced in 2017, was designed to give foreign workers time to find another job or handle practical matters before departure, including selling a home or arranging school transfers for children. Gabriel Chin, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, said: "Many H-1B workers have lived in the United States for years, and they and their families have become settled in their communities. I see no legitimate reason to force them to leave the country simply because they are changing jobs."
Part of a broader set of H-1B changes this year
The report said this is not the only move affecting the H-1B system this year. In September 2025, Trump signed an executive order that added a $100,000 fee to new H-1B visa applications. Starting Feb. 27, 2026, the FY2027 H-1B lottery shifted to a wage-weighted model, with materially higher selection odds for higher-paid applicants.
Labor Condition Application data from the US Department of Labor showed that H-1B filing volumes from Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft dropped noticeably in the first quarter of FY2026. Amazon's approved applications fell from 4,647 to 3,057, while filing volumes at Meta and Google were roughly cut in half.
When the fee policy was announced, companies including Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft reportedly told H-1B employees to stay inside the US and cancel overseas trips for the time being, aiming to avoid situations in which workers left the country and then became stranded abroad.
Pressure point for the tech workforce
The proposal has not yet taken effect. Still, the report said the policy direction is now clear. Since Trump's return to the White House in January 2025, the administration has rolled out a series of measures touching H-1B processing, including higher fees, a revised lottery system and paused visa appointment access. The new grace-period proposal would reduce the buffer for switching jobs to zero.
Set against weaker H-1B filing activity from major tech companies this year, the rule would leave laid-off workers facing possible departure the day after termination, with no time to manage a move or deal with children's schooling.
The report also noted that Silicon Valley tech companies and AI startups have long relied on foreign engineers to support research and development teams, and H-1B remains one of the main legal channels for retaining that talent. What comes next will depend on the rulemaking timeline and on whether labor groups or companies challenge the proposal in court.