there is no defined grace period for H1-B. it has been understood that H1-B is contingent upon valid employment thus when that employment terminates then H1-B also ceases to exist. So, upon this termination by reasonable time one should either leave the country or find another employment that sponsors H1-B. what is reasonable time? there is no exact definition but generally understood and implied duration is 10 business days or 15 days(in total). INS had been quite liberal in approving H1-B transfers for people who had lost their jobs for upto 1.5 months[pls. do not takeit as a word of law though, i have known instances in which they have denied transfer for people who lost their jobs forless than a month and they also have approved for a person who had been laid off for 4 months; depends on individual cases] . refer to http://www.shusterman.com or http://www.murthy.com. hope this helps... .