With DHS moving to abolish the 60-day grace period for nonimmigrant workers, it is worth reading what the regulation actually says. The text at 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) is narrower than most summaries suggest, and it contains a sentence that undercuts the idea that the grace period was ever a guarantee: DHS may eliminate or shorten this 60-day period as a matter of discretion.
That clause has been in the rule since it took effect in January 2017. The grace period has always been a policy DHS extends, not an entitlement a worker holds, and the agency has always retained authority to cut it short in an individual case. What the pending proposal (RIN 1615-AD22, cleared by the White House on August 27, 2026) would do is remove it wholesale rather than case by case.
Four limits already built into the current rule. First, coverage is by classification: E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 and TN principals and their dependents. Workers in other categories were never covered. Second, the period runs up to 60 consecutive days or until the end of the authorized validity period, whichever is shorter. A worker laid off with three weeks left on an I-94 gets three weeks, not sixty days — a detail that catches people late in an H-1B term. Third, it is available once during each authorized validity period, so a second job loss inside the same approval period is not protected. Fourth, the rule does not authorize employment during the grace period unless the person holds separate work authorization under 8 CFR 274a.12.
What the window is actually for. Under 8 CFR 214.1(l)(3), a worker inside any authorized period described in that subsection may apply for an extension of stay under 8 CFR 214.1(c)(4) or a change of status under 8 CFR 248.1, if otherwise eligible. That is the real function: it preserves the ability to file. A new employer can submit an H-1B petition with a request for extension of stay; a worker with no offer can move to H-4, F-1 or B-2 rather than fall out of status. The value is not the sixty days of presence, it is the filing eligibility those days protect.
Why the distinction matters now. Because the grace period is discretionary by its own terms, its removal does not require Congress — only notice-and-comment rulemaking, which is exactly the process now underway. The proposal has not yet been published in the Federal Register and its full text is not public, so nothing has changed for anyone today. But workers who assumed a statutory floor should understand there is not one. For those with a pending I-140 or adjustment of status, the practical takeaway is unchanged and urgent either way: after a job ends, the clock that matters is the one on the I-94, and a filing made inside the window is what keeps a green card process intact.
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