If you are on H-1B, a project or job can end before your approved stay ends. Current rules can give you a short window of lawful status. That window is often called the 60-day grace period. In September 2026, DHS proposed to remove it. Public comments closed on November 10, 2026. This is not a final rule, and it changes nothing today.

We last checked this on November 15, 2026, against the public notice and the current regulation.

The short answer

  • Today, certain workers, including people on H-1B, can keep lawful status for a short window after the job ends. The regulation allows as many as 60 consecutive days, or through the last day of the approved stay, whichever comes first. This window is available once in each approved stay. DHS can shorten it or drop it.
  • You may not work during that window, unless some other work permission applies.
  • DHS has proposed to delete this rule. If a final rule later does that, DHS says those workers would have to leave at once when the job ends. They would not have to leave if they have some other lawful basis to remain. They would be treated as out of status starting the day after the job ends.
  • This is not a final rule. The current 60-day window is still in the regulations.
  • This is also not the 60-day period F-1 students get after they finish their program. That is a different rule.

Some terms first:

  • H-1B: a temporary U.S. work status for certain specialty jobs.
  • Petitioner: the company that files the H-1B petition (Form I-129) for you.
  • Grace period here: a short stretch of lawful status after employment ends, written at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2). The phrase is "up to" 60 days, not a promise of 60 full days.
  • DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is the federal department. USCIS is the agency in that department that handles these petitions.

What the current rule says

The rule lives at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2). It covers H-1B workers and their dependents, and it also names E-1 through E-3, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN.

In plain words, the current text says:

  • Your status is not treated as broken just from the job ending, when that job was the basis for the status.
  • The window lasts as many as 60 consecutive days, or through the last day of the authorized stay, whichever comes first.
  • It is available once during each authorized stay.
  • DHS may, at its discretion, make this window shorter or take it away.
  • Unless other work permission under 8 CFR 274a.12 applies, you may not work during this period.

The notice says this window was added in a 2016 rule, often called the AC21 rule, that took effect on January 17, 2017. DHS says the aim at the time was to give workers a limited amount of flexibility after a job ends. That included room to pursue other immigration options.

There is a separate, shorter period in 8 CFR 214.1(l)(1). For H-1B and several other classifications, it can add up to 10 days before the approved stay begins and 10 days after it ends. You may not work in those 10-day stretches either, unless other work permission applies. The proposal would not remove this 10-day period.

What the proposal would do

On September 11, 2026, USCIS and DHS published a proposed rule in the Federal Register. The official title is "Eliminating the Discretionary 60-Day Grace Period." Document number 2026-18631, 91 FR 57807, docket USCIS-2026-0364, RIN 1615-AD22.

The proposal would delete paragraph (l)(2) of 8 CFR 214.1 and renumber the paragraph that follows it.

DHS writes that, under the proposal, H-1B workers and the other statuses named above would no longer receive this window after employment ends. They "would be required to depart immediately unless otherwise authorized to lawfully remain in the United States." They "would be considered to have failed to maintain status starting the day after their employment ends."

The notice does not name a start date for these changes. A final rule, if one is issued, would have to say when it begins.

This is not the F-1 60-day period

F-1 students have a separate period after they complete a program or practical training, commonly called a 60-day grace period for students. That is a different section of the regulations. The proposal we are describing does not remove that F-1 period. If you are on OPT or STEM OPT, do not read this notice as a change to that student window.

Comments have closed, and nothing is final

Written comments were due on or before November 10, 2026, by midnight Eastern time, through regulations.gov. That date has passed. As of November 15, 2026, a Federal Register search for this docket returned only the proposed rule. We found no final rule.

Until a final rule is published and takes effect, the current text of 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) is what applies.

If a job is ending

  • Treat the current rule as the one in force. The proposal is only a proposal.
  • Open the official notice. The Federal Register link is in the sources list.
  • Do not assume you will get 60 full days. The window is "up to" 60 days, it ends if the approved stay ends sooner, it is once per stay, and DHS can shorten it.
  • Plan work and travel with care. The current rule does not let you work in this window unless some other work permission applies.
  • Talk to a licensed immigration lawyer about your own dates, a new petition, or a change of status. A blog post cannot do that job.

A reminder

PIXEL RECRUITING LLC does not practice law. We staff engineering teams. Treat this article as our reading of a public proposal and the regulation now in force, not as legal counsel. For a decision that affects your status, ask a licensed immigration lawyer who can review your papers.

Sources

When a client project ends, H-1B timing is one of the issues PIXEL RECRUITING LLC tracks for the engineers we place. PIXEL RECRUITING LLC is a direct staffing partner for Mastercard in O'Fallon, MO. Visit pixelrecruiting.com.