Amazon’s visa bind: When stranded employees are allowed to work, but not do their jobs
For years, global mobility has been the invisible infrastructure of the American tech industry. Engineers flew out for visa renewals, logged in from abroad for a few days, and returned to their desks with little more than jet lag to show for it. That system is now faltering, and Amazon’s latest internal workaround shows just how fragile it has become.According to an internal memo reviewed by Business Insider, Amazon has allowed employees stranded in India due to US visa delays to continue working remotely until early March 2026. On paper, it looks like flexibility. In reality, it is a tightly bound exception, shaped less by trust than by legal caution.The permission applies only to employees who were already in India as of December 13 and whose visa appointments were rescheduled by US consulates. Even then, the work they are allowed to do is sharply curtailed. No coding, no testing, and no troubleshooting. No strategic decisions. No customer interaction. No contract negotiations. Not even entry into the Amazon offices.“All reviews, final decision-making, and sign-offs should be undertaken outside India,” the memo states, adding that there are “no exceptions” to these restrictions in order to comply with local laws.The result is a strange professional limbo: employees remain on the payroll, but are effectively barred from the core functions that define their roles.
A policy shock with human consequences
Amazon’s decision cannot be understood in isolation. It comes amid sweeping changes to the H-1B visa process under the Trump administration, including a directive requiring consular officers to scrutinise visa applicants’ social media activity before issuing approvals. The stated aim, according to a US State Department spokesperson cited by Business Insider, is to use “all available tools” to flag applicants who may be inadmissible or pose risks to national interests.The impact has been immediate. Visa processing has slowed, appointments have been pushed back by months, and in some cases by years. Some US embassies and consulates have reportedly rescheduled appointments as far out as 2027, turning what was once a routine administrative step into a prolonged standstill.Sensing the risk, major technology companies, including Google, Apple, and Microsoft, have issued internal advisories urging visa-holding employees to avoid international travel altogether. The fear is simple: lLeave the US, and you may not be able to return anytime soon.
Working, but not really
Amazon’s temporary extension goes beyond its usual policy, which allows employees travelling abroad for visa renewals to work remotely for up to 20 business days. Extending that window to March 2, 2026, signals how seriously the company views the disruption. Yet the restrictions raise an uncomfortable question: What, exactly, can these employees do?For technical staff, the answer appears to be “not much.” One Amazon software engineer told Business Insider that 70 to 80 percent of their job involves coding, testing, deploying, and documenting software, precisely the activities now off-limits.The memo also offers no guidance for employees whose visa appointments fall beyond the March deadline or for those stranded in countries other than India.
A dependency laid bare
The episode exposes a deeper structural issue. Amazon is not just another participant in the H-1B system, it is one of its biggest users. During the 2024 federal fiscal year, the company filed 14,783 certified H-1B applications, including filings for Whole Foods, according to Business Insider’s analysis of data from the US Department of Labor and US Citizenship and Immigration Services. That scale has long powered Amazon’s growth. It now magnifies its vulnerability.When immigration policy tightens abruptly, the effects ripple through product teams, delivery timelines, and internal hierarchies. Legal compliance may be preserved, but operational coherence begins to fray.
More than a delay
Amazon’s memo reads less like a solution and more like a pause button, an attempt to keep people tethered to the company while waiting for a system beyond its control to move again. It reflects a broader reality facing US tech employers: Mobility can no longer be taken for granted, and neither can the assumption that work survives intact when borders close.For the employees caught in between, the uncertainty is not just bureaucratic. It is professional, financial, and deeply personal. And for the industry watching closely, Amazon’s constrained compromise is a warning sign, proof that when visa clocks stop ticking, the cost is measured not only in delays but also in lost momentum.
