The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ending the grace period for nonimmigrant workers who lose their jobs in the United States. Filed with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under RIN 16: 15-AD22, the proposal advocates for terminating the current sixty-day period for nonimmigrants to find new employment or change status. Afterwards, the proposed rule gets published the Federal Register and opens up for public comment.
Background
In late 2016, during the last months of the Obama administration, DHS implemented the current sixty-day grace period as a protection for employment-based visa holders who lose their jobs. Under the regulation, immigrants holding visas tied to their employment don’t lose their status on the day of termination. Instead, they keep their status for up to sixty days. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) retains the right to shorten the grace period. However, the DHS rarely did so in the policy’s ten-year history.
According to Newsweek, the proposal applies to nonimmigrant workers in H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, TN, E-1, E-2, and E-3 visas. The proposal, if implemented, impacts over seven hundred thousand H-1B beneficiaries alone. The grace period gives these beneficiaries a critical window for seeking alternative immigration status or make arrangements for leaving the U.S.
What’s Next
Nothing has changed yet. The 60-day grace period remains in effect until the proposed rulemaking passes through OMB and publishes in the Federal Register, at which point the public will be allowed to comment. There is no projected timeline for when that will happen, and even after publication there is no guarantee DHS’s proposal will become final.
As always, ILBSG actively monitors ongoing U.S. immigration news. If you have questions about any U.S. immigration related issue, contact us. Working with an experienced attorney ensures you get the right advice based on the most recent laws. In an ever-evolving immigration policy landscape, it’s particularly critical you get the right advice.