DHS Proposes to Eliminate the 60-Day Grace Period
The 60-day grace period that employment-based nonimmigrant workers have relied on for years would be removed under a rule the Department of Homeland Security published in the Federal Register on 11 September 2026. The proposal would strike 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) entirely. This page explains what the document actually says, who it covers, what the law is today, and what H-1B, L-1, O-1, E-1/E-2/E-3 and TN holders should be doing now.
Important: this is a proposal. Nothing has changed as of today. The existing up-to-60-day discretionary grace period stays in force unless and until DHS issues a final rule with an effective date. But the proposal alone is reason enough to stop planning a job loss around the assumption that you will have two months to sort things out.
What exactly was published?
The document is titled Eliminating the Discretionary 60-Day Grace Period. Its Federal Register document number is 2026-18631 and its publication date is 11 September 2026. It is a proposed rule, which means DHS must collect public comment first. The comment period closes on 10 November 2026.
In DHS’s own summary, the purpose is to remove the provision at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) and so restore its previous and long-standing policy of not providing people in certain nonimmigrant classifications (and their dependents) with an up-to-60-day grace period when employment ceases. DHS argues the change would restore a direct relationship between a person’s nonimmigrant status and the specific employment that formed the basis of their admission, and would reduce administrative burden. The rationale states that deciding whether the grace period applies, and whether to shorten or eliminate it, is time-consuming and complex for the agency and unpredictable for the petitioner and the worker.
Who is affected?
The proposal targets the classifications covered by 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2). The table below summarizes the position for the statuses our clients most often hold.
| Status | Covered? | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| H-1B / H-1B1 | Yes | The buffer for filing a new petition or a change of status after a layoff or resignation disappears. |
| L-1A / L-1B | Yes | When the intracompany assignment ends, the basis for remaining in the United States ends with it. |
| O-1 | Yes | When the sponsor relationship ends there is no window in which to find a new sponsor. |
| E-1 / E-2 / E-3 | Yes | Particularly significant for employees of an E-2 investor company; the investor’s own position is assessed separately. |
| TN | Yes | For Canadian and Mexican professionals, the end of employment is the end of status. |
| Spouses and children (H-4, L-2, O-3, E dependents, TD) | Yes | Dependent status follows the principal, so it is affected at the same moment — including H-4 EAD holders. |
| F-1 and J-1 | No | Not covered by this provision; F, J and I statuses are governed by the fixed period of admission rule that took effect in 2026. |
What is the law today?
The regulation currently in force is unchanged. It allows a person in one of the classifications above, when qualifying employment ends, to be granted up to 60 days of additional time, provided that period falls within the existing period of admission. This is not a right: DHS may shorten it at its discretion or decline to apply it, and it can never extend past the date on your I-94. If your I-94 expires in 20 days, you have 20 days, not 60.
This 60-day provision is also separate from the 10-day periods found in another paragraph of the same regulation, which apply before and after the validity period for classifications such as E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, L-1 and TN. The proposal reaches only 214.1(l)(2) — the grace period tied to cessation of employment.
What would the practical consequences be?
If the proposal becomes a final rule, affected workers would generally be expected to depart the United States once qualifying employment ends, unless another lawful basis to remain exists. The consequences of failing to maintain status include:
- The person may become removable under INA 237(a)(1)(C).
- DHS may issue a Notice to Appear (NTA), initiating removal proceedings.
- The person may lose eligibility for certain future immigration benefits; requests to change or extend status from within the United States are especially exposed.
- Depending on the circumstances, unlawful presence may begin to accrue, which can lead to the three-year or ten-year bars on admission.
On the employer side the conclusion is this: the termination date stops being purely an HR matter and becomes the date the employee and their family can remain in the country. Details such as the difference between the “last day worked” written into a severance package and the date the person actually comes off payroll become far more consequential than they are today.
What should you be doing now?
The proposal is not in force, but the decisions made today are the only buffer that will exist if it is finalized. For clients on a single-employer H-1B or L-1, we recommend the following.
- Check your I-94 date today — the grace period is always capped by your I-94. A surprising number of people are wrong about when their status actually expires.
- Pull any long-term path forward — if a route that does not depend on an employer (EB-2 NIW or EB-1A, for example) is realistic for you, do not leave that assessment until the day you are let go.
- Protect your priority date — if you have an approved I-140, confirm whether the priority date is portable and whether the I-140 has been revoked when you change employers.
- Plan your spouse’s work authorization separately — H-4 EAD and L-2 work authorization depend on the principal status; if that ends, so does the spouse’s ability to work.
- Negotiate termination terms — where possible, get the gap between the last day worked and the formal end of employment in writing.
- Submit a comment — employers and affected workers can file concrete examples through regulations.gov until 10 November 2026.
Tolga Ozek is the founder of Ozek Law Firm, LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. His practice covers business and immigration law, including investor and intracompany-transfer visas, employment-based immigration, and adjustment of status. The firm advises clients in English, Turkish and Spanish.
We review your I-94 date, your approved petitions and your family’s status together, and assess whether a backup path that does not depend on your employer can be built.
This page is general information only and is not legal advice. Attorney Advertising. This article describes the DHS proposed rule “Eliminating the Discretionary 60-Day Grace Period” (FR Doc. 2026-18631), published in the Federal Register on 11 September 2026, as of 13 September 2026. A proposed rule does not change the regulation in force; the existing provision applies until a final rule is published. Follow the Federal Register and USCIS announcements for developments.
Ozek Law Firm, LLC · 4500 East West Highway, Suite 150, Bethesda, MD 20814 · +1 (202) 854-8545 · info@ozeklaw.com · www.ozeklaw.com
Admitted in Maryland, New York and Washington, D.C.; federal immigration practice throughout the United States. Consultations in English, Turkish, Spanish and Swedish; interpreters for other languages.
