The proposed change could leave H-1B, L-1 and O-1 workers with little time to find new jobs or settle their affairs before leaving the US.

Updated on: Sep 11, 2026, 09:10:30 IST

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The Trump administration has proposed ending the up-to-60-day grace period that Indian and other foreign professionals on H-1B, O-1, L-1 and certain other US work visas get after losing or leaving their jobs, potentially requiring them to leave the country almost immediately.

The proposal, issued by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), would eliminate the period that has allowed eligible foreign workers to remain in the US while looking for new employment or otherwise regularising their immigration status. The proposed rule will be opened for public comment, after which the US government may finalise it.

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The 60-day grace period, in place since 2017, allows foreign workers time to find another U.S. job or get their affairs in order — whether selling a home or pulling children out of school — before leaving the country.

“This proposal restores a direct relationship between an alien’s non-immigrant status and the specific employment or activity that formed the basis of his or her admission or grant of status in the US and reduces administrative burden,” DHS said in a statement on Thursday.

The department said removing the grace period would require a foreign worker to depart the US immediately after they cease to maintain the employment or activity that formed the basis of their nonimmigrant classification or status, “unless otherwise authorized to lawfully remain in the United States”.

The change would leave foreign workers with little or no time to find another US employer or make arrangements to leave the country, including winding up their affairs. The draft rule acknowledges that the proposal could impose costs on foreign workers and said more foreign talent could also be issued notices to appear before immigration authorities.

The proposal comes amid a series of restrictive changes to the US legal immigration system under President Donald Trump.

In August, the US government proposed a new $103,265 application fee for cap-subject H-1B visas. The proposal came shortly before the earlier $100,000 H-1B visa fee announced by Trump in September 2025 and subsequently vacated by a US court.

The Trump administration has justified the proposed new fee as necessary to recover the administrative costs of managing the legal immigration system. The new proposal would also cover several other temporary work visa categories, including O-1 visas for people with extraordinary ability and L-1 visas for executives, managers and specialised employees of multinational companies. Consultancy companies such as Deloitte, PwC and Ernst & Young as well as outsourcing giants like Tata Consultancy Services , Infosys , HCL Tech and LTIMindtree are top H-1B sponsors. “This proposal would have consequences far beyond a worker simply having less time to find another job.

The proposal affects E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 and TN professionals and their dependents…The impact therefore would not fall only on immigrant families; employers and industries that depend on their skills would feel it as well,” says Ana Gabriela Urizar, immigration attorney at Manifest Law.

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