What’s a Grace Period in Immigration?

How Having More Time Can Help Immigrants

When you immigrate to the United States, you do so to build a life. While a visa or legal status expires, the life you built does not. When circumstances get in the way of renewing or filing for an extension or new visa entirely, you have what’s called a grace period. You may have heard of grace periods in other aspects of your life, and they’re especially useful during the immigration and visa process.

If you need more time to settle your immigration status, the immigration attorneys at The Law Offices of Diron Rutty, LLC can help you.

What is a Grace Period in Immigration Law?

The grace period is the specific amount of time after your visa or legal status expires that you can still remain in the country legally. During this time, you are not considered to be in violation of U.S. immigration laws. You are expected to prepare to leave the country, file for an extension, or transition into another legal status, such as naturalization.

When Do Grace Periods Take Into Effect?

While the obvious answer would be when your visa expires, that’s only one situation where you are granted a grace period. There are other situations where your legal status expires that you can’t always predict, but have a grace period to rectify. These situations include:

• Adjustment of Status: If you have already applied and received approval for a different type of visa from what you had, you’ll be in a grace period as this processes. It’s important to be careful and pay attention. An example of this would be when you switch from a student visa to a work visa, or a work visa to a green card.
• Naturalization: If you are starting the naturalization process and becoming a citizen, you have a grace period where your visa may not be valid, but you are still legally allowed to stay in the country. It’s important to stay updated on the naturalization process in case you need temporary documentation.
• Changes in Law: When immigration laws change, such as with the 7-Year Rule, existing visas and residency statuses typically have grace periods to adjust to the new law.
• Employment Changes: There are many whose immigration status is tied to their employment. This means that any change, such as gaining new employment, losing employment, or a change in the owner of your employment, can affect your status. While this change is processed, you typically have a grace period. If you are changing jobs, you need to contact the proper immigration authorities to avoid having any issues. You may even need an immigration attorney.
• Family Changes: If you marry or divorce a citizen or permanent resident, or suffer other family-related changes that would affect your relationship with your partner – such as a death in the family – your immigration can be impacted. You have a grace period to communicate with immigration authorities to confirm or change your immigration status.
• Compliance with Visa Conditions: If you have not been adhering to the conditions of your visa, such as working without authorization or not maintaining your status as a student, your status can change. You have a grace period, of course, in case you’re changing employment or transferring schools.

What Happens if You Fail to Resolve Your Immigration Status Within the Grace Period?

If you anticipate that you won’t be able to resolve your immigration status within the grace period, you should contact your local immigration office. For guidance on obtaining an extension of your grace period and avoiding deportation, an immigration law attorney can help.

The immigration law attorneys at The Law Offices of Diron Rutty, LLC have the experience you need to help resolve your immigration status in time or have your immigration grace period extended.

Contact the Immigration Law Attorneys at The Law Offices of Diron Rutty, LLC For Help

A grace period is useful to give you the time you need to stay in the country, but it’s not unlimited. Once you realize you’re in your grace period, you need to start working towards fixing whatever changed your immigration status in the first place.

The Law Offices of Diron Rutty, LLC have the legal team you need to get started. We are ready to review your situation and what caused your immigration status to change, and we will begin a plan to rectify the situation in a way that matches your needs.

Grace periods are not consistent and depend on what changed your immigration status. Sometimes you have a 60-day-grace period, and sometimes you have a 120-day-grace period. That may feel like more time than it is, so don’t waste another minute. Contact The Law Offices of Diron Rutty, LLC today.