DHS Moves to Eliminate the 60-Day Grace Period for H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, and Other Nonimmigrant Workers

On August 6, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security submitted a new proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review, titled "Eliminating the Discretionary 60-day Grace Period." If finalized, it would end the 60-day grace period that currently lets many nonimmigrant workers — including H-1B holders — stay in the U.S. for a short window after their job ends.

What we know from the federal rulemaking record

• RIN: 1615-AD22
• Title: "Eliminating the Discretionary 60-day Grace Period"
• Agency / Subagency: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
• Stage: Proposed Rule
• Received by OIRA for review: 08/06/2026
• Legal deadline: None
• Economically significant: No

"Eliminating the Discretionary 60-day Grace Period" — RIN 1615-AD22, DHS/USCIS, Proposed Rule, received by OIRA 08/06/2026.reginfo.gov, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

What the 60-day grace period currently does

Since January 2017, a discretionary grace period has let E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN nonimmigrants remain in the U.S. for up to 60 days (or until the end of their authorized validity period, whichever is shorter) after their employment ends. In practice, this is the buffer that gives a laid-off or terminated H-1B worker time to find a new sponsoring employer, change to another status, or wind down and depart — instead of being treated as immediately out of status the moment employment stops.

Why "discretionary" matters here

The grace period was never written into the Immigration and Nationality Act by Congress — it was created entirely by regulation, in the January 2017 DHS final rule "Retention of EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers" (codified at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2)). Because it exists only in the Code of Federal Regulations, DHS can propose to remove it through the same rulemaking process that created it, without needing an act of Congress. That is exactly the process now underway: a proposed rule sitting at OIRA review.

What is not confirmed yet

It is important to be precise about what this record does and does not tell us. As of this writing, the rule has not appeared in a published Unified Agenda entry, so no regulatory abstract or summary of intent is public yet. No proposed effective date exists. No Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) has been published in the Federal Register, and no public comment period is open. Everything beyond the bullet points above — including how narrow or sweeping the change would be, whether any transition provisions are contemplated, or when it might take effect — is unknown until DHS publishes the NPRM text. We will update this article the moment that happens.

Who this would affect — and an important distinction for OPT holders

This rule targets the high-skilled nonimmigrant grace period under 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2), which covers E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN status holders. It is a different regulation from the F-1 OPT and STEM OPT grace periods (governed separately under 8 CFR 214.2(f)), so this proposal, on its face, would not directly change grace periods for students currently on OPT. It matters to the OPT community anyway: many OPT holders are counting on H-1B as their next step, and a shorter (or eliminated) post-employment window at the H-1B stage changes the risk calculus around layoffs, transfers, and timing an H-1B start date.