Amazon has granted a temporary lifeline to employees stranded in India due to H-1B visa delays—but it comes with a surprisingly long list of restrictions that effectively bars them from doing core parts of their jobs.The tech giant is allowing workers who were in India as of December 13 to work remotely until March 2, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider. However, employees cannot code, make strategic decisions, negotiate contracts, or interact with customers while working from India.The restrictions, which Amazon says are mandated by local laws, include a ban on troubleshooting, testing, or even documenting code. Employees also can’t visit Amazon offices, sign contracts, hire anyone, or manage relationships with vendors and partners. All final decision-making and approvals must happen outside India.
Software engineers left wondering what they can actually do
For many Amazon employees in technical roles, the limitations raise serious questions about productivity. “Seventy to eighty percent of my job is coding, testing, deploying, and documenting,” one Amazon software engineer told Business Insider, highlighting the impracticality of the arrangement.The policy marks a rare exception to Amazon’s strict five-day office mandate, but one that comes with significant caveats. The company normally allows only 20 business days of remote work for visa renewals.
Trump administration’s new H-1B screening causes massive delays
The crisis stems from the Trump administration’s expanded vetting requirements for H-1B visas, which now mandate social media reviews for all applicants. The State Department announced in early December that consular officers must examine applicants’ social media profiles before issuing visas, causing processing delays that have pushed some appointments into 2027.Amazon filed 14,783 certified H-1B applications during the 2024 fiscal year, making it one of the program’s largest users. Other tech giants including Google, Apple, and Microsoft have issued travel warnings to visa-holding employees, advising them to avoid international travel.The memo offers no guidance for employees whose visa appointments extend beyond March 2 or those stranded in countries other than India.
