DHS's 60-Day Grace Period Elimination Is Now a Formal Proposed Rule: Comments Due November 10, 2026

On September 11, 2026, DHS published the actual notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for "Eliminating the Discretionary 60-day Grace Period" — the same RIN 1615-AD22 proposal we first covered back in early August, when it was still sitting at OIRA review with no public text (see our earlier article). That earlier stage told us a rule was coming and roughly what it would target; it did not tell us the actual regulatory language, a comment deadline, or how DHS itself expects the change to land on workers. The published NPRM answers all three. If finalized as written, it would strike the 60-day grace period for H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, and several other nonimmigrant categories entirely — not shorten it, eliminate it.

What we know from the Federal Register

• RIN: 1615-AD22
• DHS Docket No.: USCIS-2026-0364
• Agency / Subagency: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
• Citation: 91 FR 57807-57828
• Federal Register document number: 2026-18631
• Action: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), with request for comments
• Published: September 11, 2026
• Comment period: open through November 10, 2026 (60 days), filed via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at regulations.gov under Docket USCIS-2026-0364
• Regulation targeted for removal: 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2), in its entirety

DHS proposes to remove regulations at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) to restore its previous and long-standing policy of not providing aliens in certain nonimmigrant classifications (and their dependents) with an up to 60-day grace period upon cessation of employment prior to the expiration of the alien's authorized period of stay.DHS/USCIS, Federal Register, 91 FR 57807 (September 11, 2026)

What the published text confirms that the OIRA stage did not

Our earlier article was explicit about what remained unknown at the OIRA-review stage: no NPRM text, no comment period, no confirmed scope beyond a working title. All of that is now settled. The rule reaches E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN nonimmigrants, plus their dependents. It does not shrink the grace period to some shorter window — it removes 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) outright. Under current regulation, a covered worker whose qualifying employment ends before their authorized stay expires generally gets up to 60 consecutive days (or the remainder of the validity period, if shorter) without being treated as having fallen out of status solely because the job ended. If this NPRM is finalized as proposed, that worker — and their spouse and children in dependent status — would be considered to have failed to maintain status the day after employment ends, and would be expected to depart the United States immediately unless separately authorized to remain (for example, through a timely change-of-status or new-employer H-1B transfer filing that is itself approved before status lapses).

DHS's own estimate of who gets hurt

One thing the published NPRM includes that a bare OIRA listing never does is DHS's own regulatory-impact analysis. DHS acknowledges that eliminating the grace period could create real financial and logistical difficulties for affected workers — airfare and other transportation costs, lease-termination fees, time spent arranging a sudden departure, and lost income. The agency's own estimate puts the number of nonimmigrant beneficiaries who could face lost income from a forced, immediate departure at roughly 3,795. DHS's stated justification for proceeding anyway is that the rule "restores a direct relationship between an alien's nonimmigrant status and the specific employment or activity that formed the basis of his or her admission or grant of status" and reduces administrative burden on the agency.

What stays the same

• This is a proposed rule only. Nothing about the 60-day grace period changes today — 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) remains in effect exactly as written while DHS reviews comments and, eventually, decides whether to publish a final rule.
• The separate 10-day grace periods at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(1) — up to 10 days before a validity period begins and up to 10 days after it ends — are not targeted by this NPRM and are a different provision entirely. DHS itself notes in the rule that this 10-day window applies only after a validity period ends, so it was never available to a worker terminated mid-validity in the first place.
• This targets the high-skilled nonimmigrant grace period, not the F-1 OPT or STEM OPT unemployment-clock rules (governed separately under 8 CFR 214.2(f)) — those are unaffected by this specific proposal.
• No effective date exists yet for any final rule. DHS must review public comments before it can finalize anything, and the timeline for that is unknown.

What to do during the comment period

• The comment period runs through November 10, 2026. Employers, workers, and advocacy groups can submit comments through regulations.gov under DHS Docket No. USCIS-2026-0364 — comments become part of the rulemaking record DHS must consider before finalizing.
• If you are on H-1B, L-1, O-1, E, or TN status today, this proposal changes nothing about your situation right now, but it is a reason to treat the current 60-day grace period as something that may not exist by the time you might need it.
• Employers with layoffs or restructuring on the horizon should build in more urgency around same-day status planning (new sponsor, change of status, or departure) rather than assuming a 60-day cushion will still exist a year from now.
• OPT and STEM OPT holders whose plan depends on landing and keeping an H-1B should treat this as another reason a job loss on H-1B could become far less forgiving than it is today — even though this specific rule does not touch OPT's own grace-period rules directly.

Bottom line

The 60-day grace period is not gone — as of September 11, 2026, it is a proposed rule with a live 60-day comment window, not a final one. But the proposal is no longer just a line item at OIRA: it is now real regulatory text that would strike 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) entirely, DHS's own analysis acknowledges thousands of workers could face financial hardship from a sudden, ungraced departure, and the comment period closes November 10, 2026. We will publish a follow-up the moment DHS moves toward a final rule.