Laid-off H-1B workers may get 6-month reprieve

Amid mass layoffs in the US, the presidential advisory panel has recommended extending the grace period for laid-off H-1B workers from 60 to 180 days that could come as a reprieve for many affected employees. In the past six months, many laid-off H-1B employees have taken to social media to highlight their plight of finding another job within the 60-day grace period.

Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of Immigration Law Practice, Cornell Law School, said it’s the first step in a long process. “First, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is not required to follow that recommendation.

Moreover, even if the USCIS were to extend the grace period, it might have to go through the normal rulemaking process to do that. That could take months.