In a rare reversal of its rigid return-to-office stance, Amazon has told hundreds of employees who travelled to India for the year-end holidays and became stranded by last-minute U.S. consular cancellations that they may work remotely from India until 2 March 2026.
An internal memo obtained by the Times of India explains that the waiver applies only to staff who were physically in India on 13 December 2025 and whose visa or stamping appointments were postponed when new social-media screening rules lengthened interview times at U.S. consulates. India is Amazon’s largest talent pool outside the United States, and the company filed nearly 15,000 H-1B petitions in FY 2024. Managers have warned that project timelines on several AWS and retail initiatives are already slipping because key engineers cannot re-enter the United States.
The exception comes with tight guard-rails: employees may not write or test production code, sign contracts, make strategic decisions, enter Amazon buildings in India, or interact with customers. All final reviews must be completed by colleagues located outside India. Those rules, lawyers say, are meant to minimise permanent-establishment tax risk in India and to show U.S. regulators that Amazon is not using “off-shore” labour to replace H-1B positions.
![Amazon lets India-based staff stranded by U.S. visa backlog work remotely until March]()
For those wrestling with suddenly cancelled visa appointments, VisaHQ can be a valuable lifeline. Through its India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/), the service tracks real-time U.S. consular slot availability, assists with DS-160 preparation, and offers personalised alerts about rule changes—helping travellers secure appointments or identify alternative visa options without derailing project timelines.
Corporate mobility managers say the episode illustrates how volatile U.S. visa processing has become since new Trump-era executive orders required consular officers to review an applicant’s social-media history. Interview slots for many categories are now pushed into 2027. Competitors Google, Apple and Microsoft have issued travel advisories urging visa holders to defer non-essential trips home.
Practical take-away: Indian employees with pending U.S. visa renewals should avoid travel or ensure they have at least six months of work they can perform from India that does not trigger local labour-law or tax exposure. Companies should update global-mobility policies to include contingency language for sudden consular disruptions.
An internal memo obtained by the Times of India explains that the waiver applies only to staff who were physically in India on 13 December 2025 and whose visa or stamping appointments were postponed when new social-media screening rules lengthened interview times at U.S. consulates. India is Amazon’s largest talent pool outside the United States, and the company filed nearly 15,000 H-1B petitions in FY 2024. Managers have warned that project timelines on several AWS and retail initiatives are already slipping because key engineers cannot re-enter the United States.
The exception comes with tight guard-rails: employees may not write or test production code, sign contracts, make strategic decisions, enter Amazon buildings in India, or interact with customers. All final reviews must be completed by colleagues located outside India. Those rules, lawyers say, are meant to minimise permanent-establishment tax risk in India and to show U.S. regulators that Amazon is not using “off-shore” labour to replace H-1B positions.
For those wrestling with suddenly cancelled visa appointments, VisaHQ can be a valuable lifeline. Through its India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/), the service tracks real-time U.S. consular slot availability, assists with DS-160 preparation, and offers personalised alerts about rule changes—helping travellers secure appointments or identify alternative visa options without derailing project timelines.
Corporate mobility managers say the episode illustrates how volatile U.S. visa processing has become since new Trump-era executive orders required consular officers to review an applicant’s social-media history. Interview slots for many categories are now pushed into 2027. Competitors Google, Apple and Microsoft have issued travel advisories urging visa holders to defer non-essential trips home.
Practical take-away: Indian employees with pending U.S. visa renewals should avoid travel or ensure they have at least six months of work they can perform from India that does not trigger local labour-law or tax exposure. Companies should update global-mobility policies to include contingency language for sudden consular disruptions.
