Quick answer: If you are laid off on H-1B, the 60-day grace period is still the rule on October 12, 2026. Under 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2), you are not considered to have failed to maintain status solely because the job ended, for up to 60 consecutive days or until your authorized validity period ends, whichever is shorter, and only once during that validity period. It does not let you work. DHS has proposed deleting this rule (91 FR 57807, comments open through November 10, 2026), but that proposal is not in effect. Pull your I-94, write down the earlier deadline, and treat a filed petition, not an interview, as the event that matters.
This is general information from public regulations and agency pages, not legal advice. Your I-94, petition, and termination letter control your case. Use this as a checklist, then confirm the dates with an immigration attorney.
If you still have the job and you are planning an ordinary H-1B move, start with the H-1B job search strategy. This page is for the weeks after the job actually ends.
Is the H-1B 60-day grace period still in effect?
Yes. The regulation is still on the books. On September 11, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule that would remove it. A proposed rule is not a change in the law. Written comments are due on or before November 10, 2026, and the electronic docket accepts them until midnight Eastern time that day (Federal Register, DHS Docket No. USCIS-2026-0364, RIN 1615-AD22).
| Question | Current rule, still in effect | What the September 11, 2026 proposal would do |
|---|---|---|
| Where it lives | 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2), effective January 17, 2017 | Delete that paragraph |
| Who it covers | E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN workers, plus dependents | Those same groups would lose this grace period |
| How long | Up to 60 consecutive days, or until the authorized validity period ends, whichever is shorter | No 60-day period after the job ends early |
| Work | Not work authorization, unless some other rule authorizes work | Status would again be tied to the job with no 60-day cushion |
| Status on October 12, 2026 | This is the rule to plan around | Not final. Comments run through November 10, 2026 |
DHS says the grace period was added in the 2016 high-skilled worker rule (81 FR 82398, effective January 17, 2017) so people could look for another job without immediately failing to maintain status. The September 2026 proposal would reverse that. DHS writes that, if finalized, a worker in one of the listed classifications would generally be expected to depart when the employment ends, unless some other authorization lets them stay (Federal Register preamble). Until a final rule is published and in effect, plan on the current regulation. You can read and comment on docket USCIS-2026-0364 at Regulations.gov.
Two other periods are easy to mix up, and neither one replaces this rule if you are laid off mid-petition:
- Up to 10 days before and after the petition validity period. That is 8 CFR 214.1(l)(1). DHS's footnote in the proposal says it applies after the validity period ends, so it does not cover a layoff in the middle of an approved petition.
- F-1 and J-1 periods. The preamble distinguishes the F-1 period after a completed program and practical training, at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(5)(iv), and the J-1 period at 8 CFR 214.2(j)(1)(ii). The proposed amendment removes 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2). It does not rewrite those student and exchange-visitor rules. If you are on OPT, your clock is the one described on F-1 OPT jobs, not this H-1B rule.
What the regulation actually says
8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) covers a person admitted in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, or TN status, and their dependents. They are not considered to have failed to maintain status solely because the employment ended, for up to 60 consecutive days or until the authorized validity period ends, whichever is shorter, once during each authorized validity period. DHS may shorten or eliminate that period. Unless work is otherwise authorized under 8 CFR 274a.12, the person may not work during it.
Read those clauses as limits, not as a promise:
- Sixty days is the maximum. The I-94 can end it sooner. USCIS can also shorten or refuse the period when it decides a later benefit request (USCIS).
- Once per authorized validity period. A later approval can create a new one. A grace period already used on this I-797 does not automatically reset.
- Status is not a job offer. You may not work, freelance, or start the next job on the grace period alone.
- Dependents share the same clock. They do not get a longer one. If a spouse works on an H-4 employment card, ask an attorney the same day whether that card still authorizes work. Do not guess.
When does the H-1B 60-day grace period start?
USCIS's published answer is specific: "The maximum 60-day grace period starts the day after termination of employment, which is typically determined based on the last day for which a salary or wage is paid" (USCIS).
The regulation's trigger is "cessation of the employment," not the day a severance check clears. PTO payouts and severance often arrive later, which is why the start date gets argued. Do not add days because a forum thread did. Get the written last day of employment, and ask whether the employer has notified USCIS.
Under 20 CFR 655.731(c)(7)(ii), the employer need not keep paying the required H-1B wage after a bona fide termination. That rule points to notice to DHS so the petition is canceled (8 CFR 214.2(h)(11)) and to payment for transportation home in certain cases (8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(E)). If those steps are unfinished, the last paid day can be disputed. Take the letter and the pay stubs to an immigration attorney.
Then compare that start with your I-94. Download the most recent I-94 from CBP, not the date printed on an old visa stamp. The grace period cannot run past the end of the authorized validity period.
Here is an illustration of the "whichever is shorter" rule, not a determination for any reader's file. Suppose the last day a wage was paid is Friday, October 9, 2026. USCIS says the grace period starts the next day, October 10. Sixty consecutive days beginning October 10 run through December 8: 22 days left in October, 30 in November, and 8 in December. If the I-94 admit-until date is November 20, 2026, November 20 is the earlier deadline. The filing has to be in by the earlier date. An interview on December 1 does not help if the I-94 ended in November.
| Document | What to copy down | Why it controls the clock |
|---|---|---|
| Termination letter | Last day of employment | USCIS ties the start to termination, typically the last day a wage is paid |
| Recent pay stubs | Last date wages were actually paid | Separates wages from a later severance lump sum |
| Form I-797 | Petition validity end | A new validity period is what can create another grace period later |
| I-94 | Admit-until date | The grace period ends on this date if it comes before day 60 |
| Passport visa stamp | Visa expiration | Controls travel and reentry, not the I-94 stay date by itself |
| Dependent I-94s and any H-4 EAD | Their end dates | Dependents do not get a separate, longer clock |
What you can do before the earlier date
USCIS lists four actions that, if you are eligible and you take them in time, can keep a period of authorized stay going past the grace period even if the old H-1B status itself ends (USCIS):
- A new employer files a nonfrivolous petition to change employers.
- You file an application to change to another nonimmigrant status.
- You file an application to adjust status, if you are eligible.
- You file for a compelling-circumstances employment authorization document. USCIS describes that document as a discretionary stopgap for certain people already on the path to permanent residence. It is not a general benefit for every layoff.
If none of those happen, USCIS says you and your dependents may need to depart within 60 days, or when the authorized validity period ends, whichever is shorter.
A new H-1B employer
Portability is what most people mean by a "transfer." USCIS says an eligible H-1B worker may begin at a new employer as soon as that employer properly files a nonfrivolous H-1B petition to amend or extend status, or on the petition's requested start date, whichever is later. Approval is not required first (USCIS H-1B FAQ; INA section 214(n)). The filing is the employer's, including the labor condition application. An offer letter is not a filing, and interviewing is not work authorization.
Someone already counted against the cap is usually looking at a change of employer, not a new lottery entry. Cap-exempt employers are a separate list. How to find companies that sponsor H-1B visas and the H-1B sponsor companies page are the practical filters. A filing history is not a promise that this team will file this year.
Change of status, a green card filing, or leaving
A change of status, including the student-status example in the 2016 rule, has to be filed while you are still eligible, and the filing does not by itself let you work. Adjustment of status and the compelling-circumstances employment document have their own eligibility rules on the USCIS page. Do not draft those on day 58 without counsel.
Leaving is a real option. If an H-1B employer dismisses the worker before the authorized admission ends, the employer is liable for the reasonable cost of return transportation to the last place of foreign residence (USCIS, citing 8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(E)). A resignation is not a dismissal, so it does not trigger that rule. If you were dismissed and the ticket is unpaid, USCIS says to write the service center that decided the petition.
A pending Form I-485 that has been pending at least 180 days, with a valid Form I-140, can have its own portability rule for a same or similar job (INA 204(j)). That is not the H-1B 60-day rule. Confirm "similar" on the USCIS H-1B FAQ before you rely on it.