Amazon Grants Remote Reprieve for Stranded India Employees, Yet Imposes Sweeping Work Restrictions

Amazon has made a strategic concession for a portion of its India-based workforce caught in the visa processing bottleneck. Under a newly issued internal directive, employees stranded in India since December 13 and awaiting rescheduled visa appointments are permitted to continue work remotely through early March. This marks an unusual departure from Amazon’s strict mandatory five-day office attendance requirement.

The Catch: Remote Work With Critical Limitations

While the remote arrangement appears generous on the surface, the actual working conditions impose substantial constraints. Stranded employees are explicitly barred from a long list of critical functions: writing or executing code, conducting system troubleshooting, participating in strategic planning sessions, customer-facing interactions, contract negotiations, or site visits to Amazon facilities. Essentially, any review, final approval, or high-level decision must originate from outside Indian territory, with no flexibility granted under local legislation.

For technical staff at Amazon—roles inherently tied to coding, deployment, and system infrastructure—these restrictions effectively neutered the value of remote work authorization, leaving many workers in a state of professional limbo.

What Triggered This Crisis?

The underlying cause stems from the Trump administration’s overhaul of H-1B visa protocols. New mandates now require U.S. consular officers to conduct mandatory social media reviews of every H-1B applicant, creating an unprecedented backlog. The knock-on effect has been severe: visa appointment rescheduling has stretched into months, with some U.S. embassies pushing appointments as far forward as 2027.

Amazon stands among the most affected due to its scale—the company filed nearly 14,800 certified H-1B applications during fiscal year 2024, cementing its position as one of the largest H-1B program participants in tech.

Gaps in the Policy

The memo leaves several critical questions unresolved. Staff whose visa interviews extend beyond March 2 receive no guidance on continued employment arrangements. Similarly, employees stranded in other countries face a communication void. The policy represents a band-aid solution rather than a comprehensive strategy for managing a workforce scattered across geographies and timelines.

As of Wednesday’s close, Amazon stock (AMZN) traded at $230.85 on the NasdaqGS, up 0.01% in after-hours activity.