H-1B visa delay: Amazon allows stuck Indian employees to work remotely, says report — What you need to know
US-based global e-commerce giant Amazon has reportedly allowed its Indian employees, who were stranded due to H-1B visa delay issue, to work remotely from their home countries until early March 2026, according to the news portal Business Insider report.
“Effective immediately, affected employees who were in India as of December 13, 2025 and are awaiting rescheduled visa appointments can work remotely until March 2, 2026,” the report notes.
However, the news also underlined that Indian employees working remotely will not be allowed to code, make any strategic decisions or even interact with customers during this period.
“All reviews, final decision-making and signatures must take place outside India,” the news portal noted in its report. The note also reportedly emphasized that “there are no exceptions to these restrictions in accordance with local law.”
What happens if the H-1B visa appointment is after the timeline?
The company’s memo does not outline any guidance for employees whose visa appointments are rescheduled after March 2, 2026, or for employees stranded in another country, according to the agency’s report.
Some US embassies and consulates have reportedly rescheduled visa appointments as late as 2027 amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration to the Western country.
While the questions sent by the news portal to Amazon remained unanswered, Amazon has not yet responded to the request for an official statement. Mint About news development.
Is this a concern for employees?
Amazon is among other IT and technology companies struggling to adapt to the dynamically changing US immigration policy under the Trump administration.
According to many media reports, the US government gives the visa applicant the authority to review social media posts before granting a visa. Therefore, due to these additional applicant screening processes, embassies and consulates have rescheduled visa appointments by several months.
As Google, Apple, Microsoft and now Amazon seek ways to circumvent the federal government’s crackdown on immigrants, the company is demanding that its U.S. workforce avoid international travel to avoid being stranded outside the United States.
For Amazon workers in technical roles in India, the restrictions have raised questions about what kind of work they can do amid the restrictions.
“70 to 80% of my job is coding, testing, deploying and documenting,” an Amazon software engineer told the news portal.
According to the news portal’s report, the e-commerce giant filed 14,783 certified H-1B applications, including 23 for Whole Foods, during the fiscal year ending in 2024.
