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ConfirmedAs of September 10, 2026

Proposed — not in force

DHS has proposed ending the 60-day grace period, and the 60 days still apply today

DHS filed a proposed rule, "Eliminating the Discretionary 60-day Grace Period", at the Federal Register on 10 September 2026 (document 2026-18631), scheduled for publication on 11 September 2026 with a sixty-day public comment period. It would remove the discretionary grace period of up to 60 days that currently sits at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) for workers in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 and TN status and their dependents. Under the proposal, a worker whose employment ends would be treated as having failed to maintain status the day after the employment ceases, and would be expected to depart the United States unless separately authorised to remain. It is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: it changes nothing on its own, and when it publishes a comment period opens, which is where the public gets its say.

What has not changed

The 60-day grace period is unchanged and still in force. It was created by the 2016 final rule "Retention of EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers" (81 FR 82398), effective 17 January 2017, and it remains the rule because nothing has replaced it. A worker in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 or TN status whose employment ends today is still not considered to have failed to maintain status solely on that basis, for up to 60 consecutive days. A proposed rule is a statement of intent and not law: it changes no status, ends no grace period, and starts no deadline. There is no final rule, no effective date and no court ruling on any of this. Until a final rule is published and takes effect, the 60 days apply.

What to do

Nothing today, and nothing you must file. If your job ends now, the 60-day grace period at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) still applies exactly as it does today — a proposed rule does not shorten it. Do not resign, cut a job search short, cancel a plan or leave the country on the strength of a proposal. When the rule publishes on 11 September 2026 a sixty-day comment period opens through the docket, and anyone affected can file a comment; we will publish the docket number and the closing date once it is live. If you are weighing a decision that turns on the grace period, that is a conversation for an immigration attorney, and the rule that governs it today is the current one, not the proposal.

Next update

When the rule publishes in the Federal Register on 11 September 2026 — we will add the docket number and the comment-closing date — and again if DHS issues a final rule or withdraws the proposal. We re-read the docket by 30 November 2026 either way.

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