- DHS moved to eliminate the 60-day grace period for certain nonimmigrant workers, but the current rule still applies during review.
- The proposal could remove job-loss protection for workers and dependent family members across multiple visa categories.
- If approved, the rule could reach public comment in late 2026, with final action possible in early 2027.
The Department of Homeland Security moved on August 6 to scrap the discretionary 60-day grace period for certain nonimmigrant workers, a change that would end job-loss protection for those visa holders and their dependent spouses and children if finalized. The current protection stays in place while the rulemaking runs. Nothing is final yet.
In an August 10 statement, Jonathan Withington, USCIS chief of media relations, said the agency is conducting a "thorough review of employment-based visa programs" and considering "a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out the President’s. Executive Order." He linked the review to the administration's "Buy American, Hire American" priorities. The agency has not finished the process. The review remains open.
The grace period took shape in January 2017, during the Obama administration's final days, after workers could lose status the same day they were let go. It lives in 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2). Under the current rule, a worker gets up to 60 days, or the remainder of the I-94 if that ends sooner, to find a new sponsor, switch status, or depart. That protection is discretionary. The rule dates to 2017.
FWD.us estimates about 730,000 H-1B visa holders and 550,000 dependent family members live in the United States, a population large enough to feel the change quickly. Todd Schulte said the existing window gives workers "a standard administrative window to either safely transfer to another unfilled niche or depart the country in an orderly way." Without that window, a layoff would push the family clock and the immigration clock together. Families rely on it.
Ana Gabriela Urizar said the effects would reach rent, debt and school calendars at the same time. "These are individuals who may have mortgages or leases, car payments, and children enrolled in school. an unexpected layoff would not simply mean losing a job, it could immediately put a family’s ability to remain in the United States into question." Her point is simple. The deadline is immediate.
Eight visa tracks would lose the buffer
The plan would touch treaty traders and investors, Australian professionals, specialty-occupation workers, free-trade professionals from Chile and Singapore, intracompany transferees, extraordinary-ability workers and NAFTA or USMCA professionals from Canada and Mexico. Each group sits in a different visa bucket. The rollback would reach all of them.
| Visa category | Research description |
|---|---|
| E-1, E-2, E-3 | Treaty Traders, Investors, and Australian Professionals |
| H-1B | Specialty Occupations |
| H-1B1 | Free Trade Agreement professionals from Chile and Singapore |
| L-1 | Intracompany Transferees |
| O-1 | Individuals with Extraordinary Ability |
| TN | NAFTA/USMCA professionals from Canada and Mexico |
Other visa rules are tightening too. On September 19, 2025, a Presidential Proclamation sought a $100,000 fee on certain new H-1B petitions, and that challenge is stalled in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. A final rule published July 17, 2026, cut the departure grace period for F-1 students from 60 days to 30 days, effective September 15, 2026. Another buffer is already shorter.
The new proposal is titled 'Eliminating the Discretionary 60-Day Grace Period' and carries RIN 1615-AD22. DHS sent it to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on August 6, 2026, and it remained in the proposed-rule stage on August 10, 2026. It had not reached the Federal Register for public comment. If it clears review, a 30- to 60-day public comment period would follow, with final action possible by late 2026 or early 2027 unless a court intervenes. Related H-1B limits already face litigation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. No comment period yet.
