No coding, no office access? Amazon’s relief for India-based staff comes with strict limits

Amazon is allowing employees stranded in India due to H-1B visa delays to work remotely until March 2.
The tech giant is allowing workers who were in India as of December 13 to work remotely until March 2, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider.

However, employees cannot code, make strategic decisions, negotiate contracts, or interact with customers while working from India.

Also Read: H-1B, OPT and green card applicants face higher premium processing fees in US
Amazon has granted a temporary lifeline to employees stranded in India due to H-1B visa delays, but it comes with a surprisingly long list of restrictions that effectively bar them from doing core parts of their jobs.

The restrictions, which Amazon says are mandated by local laws, include a ban on troubleshooting, testing, or even documenting code. Employees also can't visit Amazon offices, sign contracts, hire anyone, or manage relationships with vendors and partners. All final decision-making and approvals must happen outside India.
For many Amazon employees in technical roles, the limitations raise serious questions about productivity. "Seventy to eighty percent of my job is coding, testing, deploying, and documenting," one Amazon software engineer told Business Insider, highlighting the impracticality of the arrangement.

The policy marks a rare exception to Amazon's strict five-day office mandate, but one that comes with significant caveats. The company normally allows only 20 business days of remote work for visa renewals.