DHS moves to strip layoff grace period from foreign workers

WASHINGTON (MNTV) — The Department of Homeland Security has proposed eliminating the 60-day grace period that lets foreign workers remain in the United States after their employment ends, a change that could abruptly upend the status of hundreds of thousands of workers and their families.

Filed Sept. 11, the proposal would remove the window for holders of H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, and several other work visas, along with their dependents. Under current rules, such workers can generally stay up to 60 days after a job ends to find a new employer, change status, or arrange to leave. 

DHS argues that employment-based status should end when the job does, and that removing the grace period would cut administrative burdens. 

But for workers whose legal status is tied to a single employer, advocates warn, a sudden layoff could become an immediate order to leave.

DHS estimates that an average of about 65,750 workers in the affected categories lost or changed jobs each year from 2021 to 2025, with roughly 3,800 annually using the grace period to secure new sponsorship; an estimated 208,000 dependents could also be affected. 

The window, introduced in 2017, has offered a narrow but important safeguard against forced, immediate departure. 

The public has until Nov. 10 to comment before DHS decides whether to finalize the rule — a decision that, for many families, could determine whether a layoff means time to rebuild or an abrupt demand to uproot their lives.