If you're laid off on an H-1B, you may have a grace period of up to 60 days, or less if your H-1B validity ends first. Get the exact end date confirmed and put it on a calendar today. Inside that window the search has one job: reach an employer who will file an H-1B petition for you. We'd ask every recruiter that on first contact and log each answer.
How long do you have, and what happens if you miss it?
The regulation, 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) as published on Cornell's Legal Information Institute, gives you up to 60 consecutive days or until your validity period ends, whichever is shorter. It applies once per validity period, so a second layoff within the same validity period wouldn't start another 60 days. During the window, losing the job doesn't by itself count as a failure to maintain status.
What you can't do is work without separate authorization. USCIS lists three things to do in the window: find new employment, change status or depart.
How the 60 days are counted from your last day, and whether notice pay or severance days count, is the first thing to confirm with an immigration attorney or your employer's immigration office.
What can you do inside the grace period?
You control the first of these. The others are fallbacks.
A new employer files an H-1B petition
USCIS says you may begin working for the new employer as soon as they properly file a non-frivolous Form I-129 petition. The employer must file before your H-1B period of authorized stay expires, and you can't have worked without authorization since your last admission. Once filed, your employment is authorized until USCIS decides the petition.
USCIS ties permission to start work to the filing, not to the offer. That's why the filing is the thing to chase.
Change status or leave the US
Changing to another status is covered by a separate paragraph of the same regulation; ask your attorney whether it fits you.
If you leave, USCIS says an employer that terminates you before your authorized stay ends is liable for reasonable return transportation costs. If you resign, it isn't. If you're still on notice, ask before you hand in a resignation.
What does the DHS proposal change, and what doesn't it?
Rule status as of 13 November 2026: a DHS proposal published in the Federal Register on 11 September 2026, "Eliminating the Discretionary 60-Day Grace Period", is a notice of proposed rulemaking, not a final rule. Comments were due on or before 10 November 2026, and the comment period has closed. The regulation text on Cornell LII still contains the grace period.
The notice proposes to remove 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2). Under it, a worker whose employment ends would be considered to have failed to maintain status starting the day after their employment ends, and would have to leave the United States immediately unless otherwise authorized to remain. They could apply for readmission in a nonimmigrant employment-based status after obtaining new qualifying employment and the required approvals.
So today's rule stands. We'd plan for the 60 days you have, and check the docket weekly so a final rule never reaches you by surprise.
How do you run the search day by day?
- Day 1: calendar the end date and, in our plan, checkpoints at day 20, day 40 and ten days out.
- Days 1-3: tell every recruiter and referral: "I'm on an H-1B and need an employer who files a transfer." Ask each one two things. Do you file H-1B transfers? How long from offer to filing?
- Weeks 2-4: move the loops that said yes to the front. Ask for the hiring timeline, and ask about the filing step before you accept anything.
- Last two weeks: confirm where each petition stands.
Your recruiters' own answers on offer-to-filing time are the best number you'll get, so write them down. A post that's stale or not real eats days you don't have, so how to check a role is real is worth a minute before you invest in a loop.
Worked example: eight recruiters, one window
Dev is a backend engineer. Her last day is Friday 6 March, and her H-1B is valid until October, so the 60 days are the shorter limit. She asks her employer's immigration office to confirm the end date, writes it down, and sets her three checkpoints.
She messages eight recruiters. Three say they file transfers, two aren't sure, three say no. She moves the three to the front, asks the two to check with legal this week, and stops spending evenings on the other three. Her log:
| Company | Stage | Files H-1B transfer? | Who said it | Date asked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwind | Phone screen | Yes | Recruiter | 9 Mar |
| Larkspur | Applied | Unsure | Recruiter | 9 Mar |
| Brightline | Applied | No | Recruiter | 10 Mar |
A "no" costs her a line in the log, not a week of prep.
Log it in one place so no date slips
Your decision this week is which loops get your time first, and where the end date and every company's answer live. Keep the end date at the top and one row per company, like Dev's table. A job search spreadsheet with these columns does it, and so does a tool. Re-ask every "unsure" before you take an offer call.
For the severance, health cover and references that every laid-off engineer deals with, see what to do in your first two weeks after a layoff. More guides are in our tech job search guides.
Keeping the clock and every recruiter's answer in one place
With a fixed end date and several recruiters in play, the log is what keeps you calm. If you'd rather not run it from a sheet, Job Search by HighCircl keeps your pipeline with an applied date and logged steps on each job, so each transfer answer has a home. Employers never see your search or applications.
FAQ
Does the 60-day grace period still exist?
Yes. As of 13 November 2026 the regulation text still contains it, and the proposal to remove it isn't final.
Can I work during the 60 days?
Not without separate authorization. The exception USCIS describes is a new employer properly filing a non-frivolous Form I-129 for you, after which you may start working for them.
Do I need an approved petition before I start at a new company?
No. USCIS says you may begin once the new employer properly files a non-frivolous Form I-129, and employment is authorized until USCIS decides. The employer must file before your authorized stay expires.
What if my H-1B validity ends in less than 60 days?
The grace period ends at whichever comes first, 60 consecutive days or the end of your validity period. A new employer's petition has to be filed before your authorized stay expires.
Is the proposal to end the grace period final?
No. It's a proposal as of 13 November 2026, and the comment period closed on 10 November 2026.