In a significant shift from its stringent five-day office mandate, Amazon has introduced a rare exception through what is now being described as the Amazon H-1B Visa Remote Work Policy, offering temporary relief to employees trapped in the ongoing US visa gridlock. According to an internal memo cited by Business Insider, Amazon has informed impacted staff that they may continue working remotely from India until March 2, 2026, provided they were physically in India as of December 13, 2025, and are still awaiting H-1B visa appointment availability.
The Amazon H-1B Visa Remote Work Policy appears to be a strategic intervention prompted by unprecedented processing delays, consular backlogs, and an exodus of workers stuck outside US borders. Thousands of foreign professionals, particularly in the tech sector, have been scrambling to adjust career timelines after US consulates reportedly pushed appointment slots months — in some cases years — into the future.
Amazon: A Sudden Return Trip That Became an Indefinite Stay
Under Amazon’s standard rules, a non-US employee may work remotely overseas for no more than 20 business days, but the backlog forced the company to temporarily rewrite its approach.
Instead of placing affected engineers on unpaid leave or halting their project involvement, the Amazon H-1B Visa Remote Work Policy allows staff to remain employed, though under severe boundaries. While this flexibility offers income continuity and corporate inclusion, the fine print of the memo reveals strict operational limitations intended to ensure legal compliance across U.S. and Indian jurisdictions.
Remote Work With Heavy Restrictions
Although employees are technically “working,” Amazon has sharply limited what they may actually do while based in India.
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Coding or software development
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Testing or quality assurance
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Debugging or deploying code
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Any action tied to development pipelines
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Strategic leadership or decision-making affecting Amazon India
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Team management, contract negotiations, or signing authority
Furthermore, these workers cannot enter or visit any Amazon office in India, either for operational collaboration or administrative purposes. The internal memo clarifies that “all reviews, sign-offs, and core decisions must occur outside India” to avoid triggering compliance issues under corporate and government regulatory frameworks.
Amazon has cautioned affected employees to routinely consult HR and management to ensure daily tasks remain compliant. Violations, the memo warns, may trigger corporate penalties or legal complications.
Amazon: Industry-Wide Ripples
Amazon is only one of several US tech behemoths wrestling with immigration-linked workforce disruption. Sources indicate that companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Apple have already advised H-1B workers not to travel abroad unless necessary.
Still, the burden for Amazon is uniquely intense. In FY 2024 alone, the company filed 14,783 certified H-1B applications, underlining the deep dependence its talent network has on global mobility and skilled immigrant labor.