Amazon has announced temporary relief for some employees stuck in India due to delays in H-1B visa appointments.
Normally, employees must visit the office at least five days a week.
But now, affected staff can work remotely from India until March 2, 2026.
This applies to those who were in India as of December 13, 2025, and have been waiting a long time for a US visa slot.
Who Can Work Remotely?
This exemption is for Amazon employees who had to travel to India for personal reasons but couldn’t return to the US because of unavailable visa appointments.
Typically, Amazon allows only 20 business days of remote work from abroad.
Instead of placing employees on extended leave, the company is offering a limited remote work option to help them manage their work while waiting for visas.
Strict Rules Apply
Employees working from India must follow strict conditions.
They cannot:
Do coding, software development, testing, or code deployment
Visit any Amazon office in India
Sign contracts, manage teams, or make strategic decisions
All final approvals and key decisions must be made outside India, in line with US legal rules. Amazon has warned that violating these rules may lead to strict action.
H-1B Delays Affect Other Tech Companies Too
Amazon isn’t the only company facing H-1B delays. Google, Apple, and Microsoft have also warned employees to avoid foreign travel.
Amazon is a major H-1B user, and this temporary relief is meant to help employees in the short term.
However, the visa backlog remains unresolved for many, so the situation is far from fully solved.
