Amazon to Pause 5-Day Office Mandate for Staff Stranded in India

Amazon has authorized a temporary remote work arrangement for hundreds of employees currently stranded in India.

The decision, revealed through an internal memo dated December 17, 2025, specifically addresses the mounting crisis caused by unprecedented US consular delays and enhanced vetting procedures for H-1B visa holders.

While Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has enforced a rigid five-day-a-week office attendance policy since January 2025, the company has conceded that the current immigration “logjam” requires exceptional measures to prevent the loss of critical talent.

Amazon Remote Work: Eligibility and The March 2 Deadline

The temporary policy is narrowly tailored to a specific group of affected staff.

According to the internal guidelines, employees are eligible for the extension only if they were physically present in India as of December 13, 2025, and are still awaiting US visa appointments.

Under this reprieve, Amazon permits employees to work from a residential address in India until March 2, 2026.

This marks a significant extension from Amazon’s standard policy, which typically limits international remote work to just 20 business days for employees seeking visa renewals.

“The Coding Ban”: Strict Operational Constraints

Despite the flexibility, the arrangement comes with severe “guardrails” that practically redefine the roles of those affected.

To comply with complex tax and labor laws in both India and the US, Amazon has banned stranded staff from several core activities:

• No Technical Execution: Employees are prohibited from coding, troubleshooting, software testing, or deploying code to production.
• Strategic Silence: Staff cannot make strategic business decisions, manage teams, or enter into any contracts or negotiations on behalf of Amazon.
• No “Office” Access: Amazon strictly bars stranded employees from working out of or even visiting any of its physical offices in India.

For many software development engineers (SDEs), these rules present a significant challenge.

Internal feedback suggests that for some, up to 80% of their daily responsibilities fall under the “prohibited” list, leaving them in a professional limbo of administrative and non-technical tasks until their return to the US.

A Growing Crisis for Big Tech

Amazon’s move comes as other tech giants, including Google, Microsoft, and Apple, have issued urgent travel advisories to their H-1B workforces.

New vetting requirements—including a mandatory review of applicants’ social media footprints introduced in late 2025—have pushed visa interview slots at some Indian consulates as far back as October 2026 or even 2027.

As one of the world’s largest sponsors of H-1B visas, with nearly 15,000 certified applications in the 2024 fiscal year alone, Amazon is particularly vulnerable to these “border bottlenecks.”

While the March deadline provides immediate relief, the lack of a long-term plan for those whose appointments fall later in the year remains a source of high anxiety for thousands of Indian tech professionals.

Note: We are also on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and YouTube to get the latest news updates. Subscribe to our Channels. WhatsApp– Click Here, YouTube – Click Here, and LinkedIn– Click Here.