Your H-1B Employer Just Filed a WARN Notice — Here's What to Do

If your employer filed a WARN notice, it means the U.S. Department of Labor (or your state's workforce agency) has been notified of an upcoming mass layoff. For U.S. citizens, that's a heads-up. For an H-1B holder, it's a countdown clock with immigration consequences.

This guide walks you through the next 14 days: how to confirm the filing, calculate your grace period, decide between transfer and change of status, and protect your green-card progress if you're already in line.

What a WARN Notice Actually Means

The WARN Act requires employers with 100+ employees to give 60 calendar days written notice before a plant closing or mass layoff. The notice goes to affected workers, the state, and local government — and most states publish them publicly within days.

Three things to know:

• The notice date is not your last day. Your last day of employment is the "effective date" listed in the filing — usually 60+ days after the notice.
• WARN does not guarantee severance. It guarantees notice. Severance is contractual, not statutory.
• State rules vary. California requires 60 days. New Jersey requires 90 days plus mandatory severance. New York requires 90 days. Check our state legislation page for your jurisdiction.

The 60-Day Grace Period — How It Actually Works

USCIS gives H-1B workers a one-time grace period of up to 60 days (or until the I-94 expires, whichever is shorter) after their employment ends. During that window, you can:

• Find a new H-1B employer to file a transfer petition
• File a change of status (to H-4, B-2, F-1, or O-1)
• Depart the United States

The clock starts on your last day of employment, not the WARN notice date. So if you got 60 days WARN notice and then 60 days grace, you may have up to 120 days of total runway — but only the first 60 are paid.

Day-by-Day: What to Do This Week

Day 1–3: Verify and document

• Pull your I-797 approval notice. Note expiration date.
• Confirm the WARN notice in our database. Save the URL — you'll need it for your immigration attorney.
• Read your employer's separation packet carefully. Note: severance, COBRA timeline, return-to-office expectations.

Day 4–7: Talk to an attorney

• If you don't already have an immigration attorney, find one. Many do free 30-minute consults for H-1B layoff cases.
• Ask specifically: "Should I file a change of status to B-2 as a safety net while I job-hunt?"
• Ask: "What happens to my I-140 priority date if my employer revokes it?"

Day 8–14: Activate your network

• Update LinkedIn with "Open to work" tag — recruiters filter for this.
• Reach out to every recruiter you've ever talked to. Tell them you have a WARN notice and a transfer-friendly H-1B.
• Apply only to H-1B-friendly employers. Use our H-1B sponsor data to filter for companies with active LCAs.

Transfer vs. Change of Status — Quick Decision Tree

File an H-1B transfer if: you have a job offer from another H-1B sponsor and the new employer is willing to file before your last day. You can start working as soon as USCIS receives the petition (with proof of receipt).

File a change of status to B-2 if: you don't have an offer yet and your grace period is running out. B-2 buys you time to keep job-hunting while staying in status. You cannot work on B-2 — but you also cannot accrue unlawful presence.

File a change of status to F-1 if: you've considered going back to school. F-1 OPT after graduation gives you 1–3 years of work authorization (longer for STEM degrees).

File a change of status to H-4 if: your spouse has a valid H-1B. If they have an approved I-140, you may also qualify for an H-4 EAD.

Protecting Your Green Card Progress

If you have an approved I-140 with a priority date, that priority date is yours — even if your sponsoring employer revokes the petition. Document everything:

• Save your I-140 approval notice (Form I-797).
• Note your priority date and category (EB-1, EB-2, EB-3).
• If your I-140 is more than 180 days old, AC21 portability lets you change employers without restarting the green-card process.

Even if your former employer revokes your I-140, USCIS retains the priority date. You don't lose it — you just need a new employer to file a new I-140 in the same or higher preference category.

Tracking Your Employer's Stability — Before the Next WARN

One layoff is bad. Two is a pattern. Use our free tools to monitor your current and future employers:

• H-1B Risk Checker — checks WARN, SEC 8-K, and bankruptcy filings for any employer in seconds
• Free layoff alerts — subscribe to your employer or industry; get notified within hours of new filings
• H-1B sponsor data — see prevailing wages, role distribution, and approval trends across thousands of sponsors

What Happens If You Overstay Your Grace Period

If you stay in the U.S. past 60 days without filing a transfer or change of status, you start accruing unlawful presence. The consequences scale fast:

• 180+ days unlawful presence: 3-year bar from re-entry once you leave
• 1+ year unlawful presence: 10-year bar from re-entry

This is why the change-of-status to B-2 safety net matters — even if you ultimately leave the U.S., filing B-2 keeps you in status and protects your re-entry options.

Resources for the Road Ahead

• H-1B Visa Layoff Guide 2026 — full grace period explainer
• How H-1B transfers work after a layoff
• WARN Act violation tracker — check if your employer broke the law
• State-by-state WARN Act rules and notice periods

This is a stressful moment, but it is survivable — tens of thousands of H-1B holders have navigated layoffs and come out the other side. The two things that matter most: act fast, and use the data.