DHS moves to axe 60-day grace period for visa workers who lose job

The Department of Homeland Security is seeking to end an Obama-era policy that gives immigrant workers with expiring visas a 60-day grace period before they have to leave the country.If adopted, the proposed rule, set to be officially published in the Federal Register on Friday, would axe the grace period and require immigrants to leave the country immediately once their visa expires. The rule would be applicable to immigrant workers with E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, or TN nonimmigrant visas, plus their dependents. Recommended Stories The proposed rule argues that these visa classifications are “directly connected to and contingent upon the alien conducting certain employment activities or otherwise providing services in the United States that is generally tied to a petitioning employer,” making the proposed rule more aligned with the U.S.’s immigration laws. DHS also pointed to its reasoning that the rule would relieve an “administrative burden” on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees who oversee the grace period. According to the rule signed off on by DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, about 3,795 immigrant workers use the 60-day grace period to apply for a new working position in the U.S., with 99.2% of those immigrants being H1-B visa holders. The agency acknowledged that the rule change may impact small businesses with a temporary labor productivity loss, but outlined ways for businesses to continue to seek employment to fill the loss.“DHS assumes that almost all these entities would offer the same jobs to equally qualified U.S. workers, go through the I-129 petition process to sponsor nonimmigrant workers, or reassign the work to other current employees,” the proposed rule reads.The 60-day grace period rule was initially administered in 2017 at the end of President Barack Obama’s administration. Before the Obama-era rule, there was no grace period after a foreign national’s work visa expired.DHS’s proposed rule will open for a 60-day comment period starting Friday before the agency decides whether to implement it.TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES $103,000 H-1B VISA FEEThe rule falls in line with the Trump administration’s crackdown on visa regulations across the U.S. to ensure proper compliance with immigration laws. A different DHS regulation proposed at the end of August seeks to fine U.S. employers $103,265 for hiring skilled foreign workers with H-1B visas.An Obama-appointed federal judge in Massachusetts had struck down the administration’s similar effort to fine H-1B visa applicants seeking skilled jobs a $100,000 fee in June. The Trump administration subsequently filed a different rule in August with various adjustments after the court’s ruling.