&gt; The sword of Damocles hangs over our heads - lose your job and you have 10 days to find a new one, or get out<p>No, you don&#x27;t even have 10 days -- it&#x27;s zero days. You are immediately out-of-status (or in more common parlance, an &quot;illegal immigrant&quot;) as soon as your H-1B employer terminates you.<p>USCIS has an official FAQ &#x2F; Q&amp;A on this: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.uscis.gov&#x2F;tools&#x2F;ombudsman-liaison&#x2F;practical-immigration-consequences-foreign-workers-slowing-economy" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.uscis.gov&#x2F;tools&#x2F;ombudsman-liaison&#x2F;practical-immi...</a><p>I&#x27;ll quote them here: <i>&quot;If the employment ends, this condition is no longer satisfied and the individual is no longer in a lawful nonimmigrant status and may be subject to removal proceedings.&quot;</i> and <i>&quot;There is no automatic 10-day or other grace period for terminated employees holding H-1B status&quot;</i>.<p>The employer is required, by law, to notify USCIS as soon as your employment ends. So USCIS does know immediately, that you are out-of-status.