To add some context, in Canada, if you lose your job as a work permit holder, you can stay until the expiry date of the permit. In Germany, you can get a six-month jobseeker residence permit in this case. In France, you can stay until the expiry date of your work permit, then renew it for one extra year, and then if you still have remaining entitlement to unemployment benefits, extend it until the end of the benefits. Not every country is like the US, where you have 60 days to uproot and leave.
Japan’s unemployment insurance won’t pay out after the end of a work permit even if there is a remaining entitlement、because your not ‘available to work’, even if you’re on a specific job seeking permit extension.
"An alien admitted or otherwise provided status in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 or TN classification and his or her dependents shall not be considered to have failed to maintain nonimmigrant status solely on the basis of a cessation of the employment on which the alien's classification was based, for up to 60 consecutive days or until the end of the authorized validity period, whichever is shorter, once during each authorized validity period. DHS may eliminate or shorten this 60-day period as a matter of discretion. Unless otherwise authorized under 8 CFR 274a.12, the alien may not work during such a period."
This is also what I've been told by my company's lawyers.
I think the wording is "As soon as administratively possible" - But I've also read that to mean within 24 hours of your termination you need to have left the United States, and have always adhered to that rule.
I think the 24hr/"end of the day" thing is for the natural termination - i.e. you knew when your TN term ended, and were expected to leave when it's done and have made plans for it. Even then though I've never heard of people getting sticky for reasonable travel time also, just that you clearly had the plan and intent to leave the country after your work permission expired. But who knows, the whole system is rife with inequal results due to reliance on individual border staff decisions.
If you get fired/company folds/etc. then I think the 60 days things holds.
This was true for H1B as well; the existing 60-day rule is something that USCIS came up with back in 2017. But, since it's an administrative rule rather than a law, it can also be amended or scrapped that much easier, too.
TN visas have some advantages. There are no yearly caps and it can be renewed indefinitely. Also easier to get a new job. One disadvantage is it is not dual intent.
The I-485 would have to be rejected, or, you lose your job after the I-485 is filed. Even then if you maintain yourself for 6 months after the I-485 was filed and your employer doesn't withdraw the approved I-140, you can find a new job under AC21; or get lucky with no interview request or RFE.
The pain point is that you won't be able to travel after I-485 filing until your Advanced Parole turns up and you'll depend on EADs if you want to change jobs under AC21.
You could have your Green Card before you even win the H1-B lottery.
