Laid Off on H-1B? What the 60-Day Grace Period Actually Covers (and Doesn't)

A layoff is disorienting under any circumstances. On an H-1B visa, it also starts a hard federal countdown — and the two most common mistakes people make are assuming the grace period is longer than it is, and assuming it does something it doesn't.

60 days, or less if your I-94 expires sooner

Federal regulation gives H-1B workers up to 60 consecutive calendar days after their last day of employment to find new sponsorship, change to another visa status, or wind down and depart the country. But that 60-day figure is a ceiling, not a guarantee — the grace period can never extend a stay beyond whatever your I-94 already authorizes. If your I-94 admit-until date falls earlier than 60 days out, the grace period ends when the I-94 does, not on day 60.

This is the detail that catches people who are, say, 45 days from their I-94 expiration when they're laid off. They may mentally budget for a full 60 days of job searching when they actually have 45 — a meaningful difference when you're trying to line up new sponsorship before a deadline.

The grace period is not paid leave, and it doesn't authorize work

It's easy to hear "60-day grace period" and think of it as a kind of severance runway with continued status. It isn't. The grace period is a period of authorized stay — it lets you remain in the US without immediately being out of status — but it does not authorize employment. You cannot start a new job and get paid during the grace period unless a new H-1B petition invoking portability under AC21 has already been filed on your behalf. Freelancing, consulting, or any paid work during the grace period on the strength of the grace period alone is not permitted.

It's a once-per-authorized-stay benefit

The 60-day grace period generally applies once per authorized validity period. If you were laid off previously during the same H-1B approval period and already used a grace period then, a second termination under that same approval does not generate a fresh 60 days — a detail that matters for anyone who has had more than one employment gap on the same visa stamp.

The clock starts the day after your last paid day

Grace period counting generally begins the day after the last day of employment for which you were paid a salary or wage — not necessarily the last day you physically worked, and employers occasionally differ on which date they report. Get clarity on that date from HR in writing if there's any ambiguity, since it's the anchor for everything that follows.

Check your real deadline, not just the headline number

The H-1B 60-Day Grace Period Calculator takes your last day of employment and, if you know it, your I-94 expiration date, and returns whichever comes first — the standard 60-day mark or the earlier I-94 cutoff. If you've just been laid off, run this immediately and start the sponsorship search against the real number, not the one everyone quotes from memory.