Career
Laid Off on H-1B: The Complete 60-Day Playbook
7 min read · Updated July 12, 2026
A layoff on H-1B starts a 60-day clock — stressful, but it is a playbook, not a freefall. The regulation gives you a grace period precisely so you can execute one of four documented options. Knowing them before you ever need them is the difference between panic and process.
Understand the grace period precisely
The rule: up to 60 consecutive days after employment ends — or until your existing I-94 expires, whichever comes first — during which you are considered to be maintaining status despite not working. It applies once per authorized validity period, and it is discretionary in form but routinely honored when the time is used to take proper action.
The clock starts when employment actually ends, not when you're notified. Severance pay does not extend the employment end date for immigration purposes — get your official last day in writing, because that date anchors everything.
The four exits, in order of preference
1. New H-1B employer: a new employer files a transfer petition; under portability rules you may begin working for them once the petition is properly filed (receipt in hand is the conservative marker). The new job does not restart your six-year clock or your green-card priority date.
2. Change of status: file Form I-539 to switch to another status before day 60 — B-2 to wrap up affairs and job-hunt (job searching on B-2 is permitted; working is not), F-1 to study, or H-4/L-2 if your spouse holds status (H-4 with a pending or approved I-140 may bring EAD work rights).
3. Dependent route: if your spouse's employer is stable, moving to their dependent status can be the low-stress harbor while you regroup.
4. Depart and re-enter later: your approved H-1B remains usable — a future employer can file to bring you back, and time spent abroad doesn't erase the lottery selection you already won.
The week-one execution list
Get the termination date in writing; download your current I-94; collect your last pay stubs, all I-797 approval notices, and copies of prior LCAs from your files. Ask HR in writing whether the company will cover return transportation (regulations make the employer liable for reasonable return-abroad costs if they terminate you early).
Read USCIS's official 'Options for Nonimmigrant Workers Following Termination' page — it is the authoritative version of this playbook — then spend one consultation fee on an immigration attorney to pick your lane. Sixty days is enough time for any of the four options, but only if week one is spent moving rather than mourning.