US White House review clears proposal to end 60-day H-1B grace period

Washington: The White House has completed its review of the proposal to eliminate the 60-day grace period that allowed foreign workers, mostly on H1-B visas, to search for new jobs after loss of employment.

The proposal was moved by the Department of Homeland Security for review by the Office of Management and Budget earlier this month and details were not immediately available.

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If finalised, the proposed regulation would eliminate the 60-day grace period accorded to certain principal nonimmigrants and their dependents if the principal's employment ceases before their period of stay expires.

The next step for the proposal is publication in the Federal Register with a public comment period, which is usually 30 to 60 days. The specific content of the rule will not be known until publication.

The 60-day grace period was introduced in 2017 to allow foreign workers and their dependents to stay in the US while searching for new employment after a job loss.

Immigration consultants said the Department of Homeland Security has the discretion to shorten or refuse the grace period, but has rarely done so.

The rule applies to E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 and TN categories of nonimmigrant visa holders and their dependents.

The grace period also allows US employers to more easily facilitate employment changes for existing or newly recruited nonimmigrant workers.

If the 60-day grace period is eliminated, foreign nationals whose employment ceases prematurely and their dependents would generally be required to depart the US immediately.

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They would be unable to change status or employers within the United States unless US Citizenship and Immigration Services exercises its discretion to forgive the lapse in status.

The Indian-American population in the US is estimated at 5.2 million. Indian nationals are among the largest beneficiaries of H-1B employment visas, comprising 71 per cent of all successful applicants in the 2024 fiscal year.

Former White House advisor Ajay Jain Bhutoria condemned the proposed regulation to eliminate the 60-day post-termination grace period for H-1B, L-1, and O-1 nonimmigrant visa holders and made a pitch to extend the period to 180 days.

"Eliminating the 60-day grace period is both inhumane and unworkable. When a high-skilled worker faces a sudden termination, 60 days is already dangerously short. Stripping away this protection entirely leaves thousands of law-abiding individuals with zero time to wrap up their lives," said Bhutoria, who was the advisor to President Joe Biden.

Bhutoria said families will be uprooted overnight and thrown into chaos through no fault of their own after dedicating years of hard work and tax contributions to this nation.

"People will not even have the time required to manage their leases, transition their children out of schools, or handle personal affairs," Bhutoria said.