USCIS sends deportation notices to laid-off H-1B workers despite 60-day grace period

Foreign workers on H-1B visas in the United States are being issued deportation notices after losing their jobs, with USCIS issuing Notices to Appear (NTA) even within the permitted 60-day grace period, according to a report by NAFSA, an Association of International Educators.

The NTA (Form I-862) is a formal charging document that initiates removal proceedings against a noncitizen and instructs them to appear before an immigration judge. It outlines the legal grounds and factual allegations for deportation.

As per H-1B visa rules, when an H-1B worker's employment ends, either voluntarily or involuntarily, they and their dependents are allowed to stay in the U.S. for up to 60 days or until their I-94 expires, whichever is earlier. This grace period is designed to allow time to find a new employer, change visa status, or make preparations to depart.

However, NAFSA notes that some laid-off H-1B workers are receiving NTAs despite being within this 60-day window.

The regulation in question says: “An alien admitted or otherwise provided status in… H-1B… classification and his or her dependents shall not be considered to have failed to maintain nonimmigrant status solely based on a cessation of the employment… for up to 60 consecutive days… once during each authorised validity period.”

Yet, the rule also includes a clause granting the Department of Homeland Security discretion: “DHS may eliminate or shorten these 60 days as a matter of discretion… and the alien may not work during such a period.”

This discretion is now being exercised more frequently under the Trump administration, raising concerns that the 60-day grace period is no longer being uniformly respected.

The implications are serious: issuance of an NTA puts the individual into deportation proceedings and strips them of the ability to simply transfer to a new employer through a change of status filing. The matter underscores the fragility of H-1B status in a tightening immigration environment.

Immigration attorneys are now advising laid-off workers to act immediately and not assume they will automatically receive the full 60-day period. Filing a timely change of status, transferring to a new employer, or departing the U.S. may help avoid triggering an NTA and the consequences of removal proceedings.