The H1B grace period is a window of up to 60 consecutive days after your job ends, or until your authorized stay runs out if that is sooner, during which you are not treated as out of status just because you stopped working. It starts the day after your last paid day, you cannot work during it, and you get it once per authorized validity period. Inside it you can have a new employer file for you, change to another status, file for a green card if eligible, or leave. On 11 September 2026 DHS proposed removing it entirely; as of 18 October 2026 that is still a proposal, with comments open until 10 November 2026. This post explains the rule in plain words, what ends it early, what DHS's own data says people do with it, and a dated 60 day plan for the job search. It is general information, not legal advice; talk to an immigration lawyer in your first week.
What the 60 day grace period is
The rule is one sentence in 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2). It says a worker in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 or TN status "and his or her dependents shall not be considered to have failed to maintain nonimmigrant status solely on the basis of a cessation of the employment on which the alien's classification was based, for up to 60 consecutive days or until the end of the authorized validity period, whichever is shorter, once during each authorized validity period."
In plain words:
- It is a shield, not a status. You stay in H-1B status for up to 60 days without a job. It does not give you permission to work: "the alien may not work during such a period" unless otherwise authorized.
- It covers your family. H-4 dependents are covered on the same clock.
- It is not guaranteed. The same paragraph says "DHS may eliminate or shorten this 60-day period as a matter of discretion." In practice, DHS's proposed rule explains, that decision is usually made when a later petition or application is reviewed.
- It is fairly new. It came from DHS's 2016 high-skilled worker rule, effective 17 January 2017, which the proposal now seeks to reverse.
When the clock starts, and when it ends early
USCIS's guidance on options after termination (an archived page, last reviewed 24 January 2025) says the period "starts the day after termination of employment," and that the termination date is typically the last day for which a salary or wage is paid. Count from there, not from the day you were told.
| Event | Effect on your grace period |
|---|---|
| Your last paid day | Day 0. Day 1 is the next calendar day |
| Severance paid in a lump sum vs salary continuation | Can change your last paid day. Ask HR in writing which date is your last day of employment, and have your lawyer read it |
| Your I-94 end date arrives before day 60 | The period ends then ("whichever is shorter"). Check your record on the CBP I-94 site |
| You leave the United States | The archived USCIS guidance says it ends on any departure |
| You already used a grace period in this validity period | You get no second one until a new validity period |
| A qualifying petition or application is filed | You may be allowed to remain past day 60 while it is pending |
| You do nothing by day 60 | You and your dependents need to depart unless otherwise authorized to stay |
Your options inside the 60 days
DHS's proposed rule lists the same routes as the archived USCIS page. Aside from leaving, you can change status, file for adjustment of status, apply for a "compelling circumstances" EAD, or be the beneficiary of a nonfrivolous petition from a new employer. "If one of these actions described above occurs within the up to 60-day discretionary grace period," DHS writes, you "may be permitted to remain in the United States beyond the 60-day grace period."
| Option | Who files | Can you work? | Needs | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New employer H-1B petition (Form I-129) | The employer | Yes, once the petition is filed or on the requested start date, whichever is later (portability) | An offer, a certified LCA, then the petition | Filing date is the date USCIS receives it; a rejected petition loses its date |
| Change to another status (H-4, F-1, others) | You, on Form I-539, or through a spouse | Depends on the new status; usually no | Eligibility for that status | Do not travel while it is pending |
| Change to B-2 visitor | You, on Form I-539 | No | A plausible reason to visit | Practitioners report more evidence requests and denials since early 2026 (see below) |
| Adjustment of status (Form I-485) | You, if a green card case allows | Only with an EAD | An immigrant petition and a current priority date | Only some people are eligible |
| Compelling circumstances EAD (Form I-765) | You | Yes, once approved | An approved I-140 and compelling circumstances | A discretionary "stopgap"; working on it generally ends nonimmigrant status |
| Leave the US | You | Not in the US | Nothing | Ends the grace period at once |
What people actually do. DHS's proposal includes the only public data on this. Using withdrawn petitions as a stand-in for job endings, it counted 328,758 primary workers in these classifications who lost a job or changed employers from fiscal 2021 through 2025, 99% of them on H-1B. Within 60 days of the old employer's withdrawal:
| Action filed within the 60 days | Five-year total | Share |
|---|---|---|
| New employer petition (I-129) | 18,975 | 5.77% |
| Change or extension of status (I-539) | 5,596 | 1.70% |
| Adjustment of status (I-485) | 1,924 | 0.59% |
| Compelling circumstances EAD (I-765) | 49 | 0.02% |
Read that table carefully. DHS says itself that the proxy "will not capture all beneficiaries that could have used the grace period": many people who changed jobs voluntarily had their new petition filed before the old one was withdrawn, and some employers never file a withdrawal at all. It does not mean more than 90% of laid-off workers left the country. What it does show is that a new employer petition filed inside the window is by far the most common route, and a compelling circumstances EAD is almost never used.
The B-2 route is harder than it was. Laid-off H-1B workers have often changed to visitor status to keep searching. The Immigration Policy Tracking Project reported on 30 May 2026 that USCIS archived the page saying job searching and interviewing were permissible in B status, and that practitioners report more requests for evidence, notices of intent to deny and denials for these filings since early 2026. The tracker gives no counts, so treat it as a warning, not a statistic.
A new employer's petition and the $100,000 payment
The $100,000 payment created by the September 2025 proclamation does not usually reach a worker who moves employers inside the US. USCIS says (page updated 21 September 2026) that petitions for someone in the US are generally excluded when the change of status, amendment or extension is granted. The catch is in the next line: if that request is denied because the person is not in valid status or has departed, "the Proclamation will apply and the payment must be paid."
That is why the grace period and the fee are linked. A change of employer petition filed on day 50, while you are in status, sits outside the payment. A petition filed on day 70, after the grace period ended, risks a denied change of status, consular processing and the payment. Two practical rules follow:
- The filing date is the receipt date. Under 8 CFR 103.2(a)(7), USCIS records a petition as received on the actual date it arrives, and "a benefit request which is rejected will not retain a filing date." A missing signature or wrong fee can cost you the date.
- Do not leave the country while it is pending. USCIS lists departure before a change of status is decided among the cases where the payment applies.
Is it being collected? As of 18 October 2026, no. USCIS says it is complying with an 8 June 2026 order from the District of Massachusetts that vacated its implementing guidance, and that "if this order is later lifted, DHS still plans to collect the payment." Separately, a federal judge in the Northern District of California blocked enforcement on 30 September 2026, and the government filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit on 9 October and asked for a stay, Bloomberg Law reported on 12 October. This can change any week. Our post on the H1B $100K fee has the full timeline.
The September 2026 proposal to remove the grace period
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Title | Eliminating the Discretionary 60-Day Grace Period |
| Citation | 91 FR 57807, published 11 September 2026 |
| Docket | DHS Docket No. USCIS-2026-0364, RIN 1615-AD22 |
| Who it covers | E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 and TN workers and their dependents |
| What it does | Removes 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) |
| Comments close | 10 November 2026, before midnight Eastern |
| Status on 18 October 2026 | Proposed. Not final, no effective date |
DHS's stated goal is "requiring an alien to depart from the United States immediately upon his or her failure to maintain the employment or activity that was the basis for the nonimmigrant classification," unless otherwise authorized to remain. Its own cost analysis concedes that some workers "may incur lost income if they require additional days to conduct their job search and return to the United States," and that some may be issued Notices to Appear, the document that starts removal proceedings.
What it would change for a job seeker, if finalized as written:
- No buffer after a layoff. The new employer's petition would need to be filed before your last day, or you would need another basis to stay.
- Resign only after filing. Already the safe order for a voluntary move; it would become the only safe order.
- Searching from abroad becomes the fallback for many, with the travel, time and, depending on court outcomes, fee questions that brings.
You can read the proposal and comment on the Federal Register page through regulations.gov. A final rule can differ from a proposal, and it would need its own publication and effective date.
A 60 day search plan
Start with the math. In September 2026 the median unemployed person in the US had been looking for 11.5 weeks, about 80 days, according to BLS series LNS13008276. Layoffs are not rare either: JOLTS counted 21.2 million layoffs and discharges in 2025 (BLS, March 2026). The typical search runs longer than the grace period, so the plan has to work backwards from the filing, not forwards from the layoff.
The paperwork takes about two weeks. Before filing, the employer needs a certified Labor Condition Application, and the Department of Labor's rule at 20 CFR 655.740 gives the certifying officer up to 7 working days to decide. Premium processing, which USCIS says guarantees action on most petitions, such as an approval or a request for evidence, within 15 business days, speeds up the decision, but your status turns on the filing date, so it is the filing you plan for.
A worked example with real dates
Say your last paid day is Friday 30 October 2026. Federal holidays on 11 November, 26 November and 25 December do not count as working days.
| Milestone | Day | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Last paid day | 0 | Fri 30 Oct 2026 |
| Grace period begins | 1 | Sat 31 Oct |
| Target: first interviews under way | 14 | Fri 13 Nov |
| Target: signed offer | 40 | Wed 9 Dec |
| Latest sensible LCA filing | 45 | Mon 14 Dec |
| LCA decision due (7 working days) | 54 | Wed 23 Dec |
| Grace period ends; petition must be received by now | 60 | Tue 29 Dec |
An LCA filed on Thursday 17 December could take until 29 December to come back, the last day, with Christmas in between. So the real deadline for a signed offer in this example is around day 40, not day 60, and every holiday in your window moves it earlier.
Week by week
- Days 1 to 7. Book an immigration lawyer. Collect your I-94, approval notices, last three pay stubs and the written last-day date. Ask your old employer whether and when it will withdraw your petition. Build a target list of employers that file change of employer petitions; the USCIS data hub has a column for exactly that, explained in our guide to companies that sponsor H1B. Start applying the same week.
- Days 8 to 21. Volume and referrals together. Tell every recruiter on the first call that you need a change of employer petition and can start on filing. Answer sponsorship questions on applications truthfully: you need a new petition, so the answer is yes.
- Days 22 to 40. Push active processes toward offers. Ask each finalist how long their immigration counsel takes to file, and whether they will file with premium processing.
- Days 30 to 45. Prepare a backup filing with your lawyer (a change to H-4 through a spouse, back to F-1, or another status) so it can go in before day 60 if no offer is signed.
- Days 41 to 60. The employer's LCA and I-129. Keep applying until the receipt notice arrives. Do not travel.
The mechanics of the move itself, from LCA to receipt notice, are in our H-1B transfer guide, and the broader first month after a layoff, from severance to health insurance, is in our laid off checklist.
Where ApplyEze fits
The part of this plan software can help with is volume in the first three weeks. ApplyEze watches the career boards of more than 100,000 employers directly. New accounts get 50 free credits, once per email address with no card, and a credit is used only when an application is confirmed as submitted. List prices are Starter at $19 a month for 700 applications and Pro at $99 a month for 3,000. Sponsorship questions use the answers you saved. Hard facts come from your profile. When a required question is not covered by your saved answers, ApplyEze still fills it rather than stopping the run, so that answer may not come from you. Fill in your saved answers, use dry run first, and read your receipts. ApplyEze does not decide which employers will file for you; your target list and your lawyer still do that.