Stuck in India with travel ban, possible impacts?
Me and my wife traveled to India from US 20 days ago and got infected with COVID. We had mild fever and have recovered now, but since the test results are positive there is no chance we can travel back to US.
My manager is supportive and he said I can work from India until I come back. But he doesn't know much about immigration rules. I'm on H1B and since this travel ban has no timeline, I am worried about losing employment. Has anyone else been in this situation last year? How long can I work from India?
YOE - 4
TC - 180k
PS: I've mailed the PayPal visa team, they said they're assessing the situation.
Update - For people who have issues with English comprehension, there is no intention to travel here. This post is regarding the immigration challenges which I might face if the travel ban is not lifted for long.
#workvisa #h1b #remotework #travel #counsel
comments
I’m not Indian but hate that Indians and other immigrants who are super talented have to live in this constant fear due to immigration. Ugh
This comment was deleted by original commenter.
When you work from India for longer than 180 days, you become tax resident of India which means a US entity cannot have you on its payroll. You need to become employee of Paypal's Indian entity and receive salary from them else Paypal will be penalized huge amounts by Indian authorities and is considered as tax evasion. This is a serious issue and that is why companies with no legal presence in India are forced to let go of their employees after couple of months. Most companies will only allow couple of months at a stretch and will not wait for 180 days because they are afraid you might trigger India tax by traveling at a later time and hitting 180 days without their knowledge.
This entire thing is auto tracked by the triggers at port of entry and port of exit.
Like you guessed, your manager doesn't know shit. Best to wait for a month and see if they relaxes the ban if not try to take the Mexico route. Travel to whichever country has not banned flights from India, quarantine for couple of weeks and take flight to US from there.
Wondering if this situation will be resolved in 180 days and worth starting new job
Thanks for your reply!