H-1b 60-Day Grace Period after Job Loss in 2026

The 60-day period is a maximum, not an automatic extension beyond the worker's existing authorized stay.

A worker should compare the employment termination date with the Form I-94 expiration date and the validity period of the current H-1B approval. If the authorized period ends earlier, the grace-period analysis ends earlier as well.

The grace period can protect against being treated as having failed to maintain status solely because employment ended. It does not authorize continued work for the former employer.

A worker who receives a new offer must separately determine whether H-1B portability permits employment with the new petitioner.

An H-1B professional who meets the portability requirements may be able to begin working for a new employer after that employer properly files a nonfrivolous H-1B petition.

The worker must still satisfy the portability rules, including requirements concerning lawful admission, authorized stay, and unauthorized employment. A new H-1B employer filing should therefore be evaluated before assuming that a job offer alone preserves status or work authorization.

Some workers may qualify to request another nonimmigrant classification before the applicable period ends.

A change of status filing should be based on actual eligibility for the requested category. Filing another application does not automatically preserve H-1B employment authorization, and the new classification may impose different restrictions.

Departure may be necessary when the worker has no timely new petition or other lawful basis to remain.

If an employer dismisses an H-1B worker before the end of the authorized period of stay, federal immigration law generally makes the employer responsible for the reasonable cost of return transportation abroad. That obligation does not arise in the same way when the worker voluntarily resigns.

If DHS finalizes the proposal substantially as written, covered workers would no longer be able to rely on the current 60-day regulatory protection after employment ends.

Under the proposal, an affected worker would generally be treated as failing to maintain the relevant nonimmigrant status beginning the day after the qualifying employment or activity ceases, unless another lawful basis to remain applies.

That would leave far less time to coordinate a new employer petition, request another status, or depart.

Public comments on the proposed rule are due November 10, 2026.

That date does not end the grace period. DHS must complete the rulemaking process and publish a final rule before the proposed change can become effective. The final rule could also differ from the proposal.

H-1B professionals and employers should therefore continue applying the current regulation unless and until a final rule changes it.

The last active workday, payroll date, severance period, and benefits end date may not be identical.

USCIS may later need to determine when the qualifying employment actually ceased. Clear termination records can help a worker, a new petitioner, and USCIS evaluate the status timeline.

A new employer should not assume that a terminated H-1B professional automatically has 60 days available.

The current authorized validity period may end sooner, and DHS retains discretion under the present rule. Employers with recurring foreign-national hiring may use immigration compliance procedures to coordinate termination dates, recruitment, LCA preparation, and new petition filings.