Washington: The Trump administration in the United States has taken a new step to ensure that people working on H-1B visas and other temporary visas must leave the country immediately if they lose their jobs. The United States has proposed a new rule to cancel the 60-day grace period currently given to employees after losing their jobs. This move will greatly affect Indian tech workers employed through H-1B visas by technology companies and other firms.
The Trump administration has introduced new proposals to revoke the up to 60-day grace period that allowed holders of H-1B visas and other temporary employment-based visas to remain in the United States after losing their jobs while looking for new work or returning to their home countries. This move could significantly reduce the time available to search for a new job or choose another immigration option.
The draft report of the new regulations related to this was published in the 'Federal Register' by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday. It states that if this new proposal comes into effect, not only H-1B visa holders, but also those holding temporary visa categories such as E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN, and those who entered the country under visas issued in those categories, would have to leave the United States immediately if they lose their jobs. For these employment-based visa categories, the current grace-period system would "remove the foreign national's lawful status based on eligibility itself," it said.
Furthermore, the Department of Homeland Security has asked the public to submit their comments on this within the next 60 days.
If this proposal takes effect, foreign nationals who lose their jobs before their visas expire would have to leave the country immediately unless they have some separate authorization to remain in the United States; after later receiving a job offer from another U.S. company, they would have to apply again at a U.S. embassy or consulate. It is also expected that employees must be removed once their employment with the company responsible for their visa ends. Because this grace period is subject to the authority’s discretion, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could shorten it or eliminate it entirely.
American technology companies rely heavily on H-1B visas to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries such as India and China.
Under U.S. law, 65,000 H-1B visas are issued annually; an additional 20,000 visas are reserved for those who have earned advanced degrees from U.S. institutions of higher education.
This is the latest measure taken to restrict legal immigration after Donald Trump took office again as U.S. president in January 2025.