Stuck in India with travel ban, possible impacts?

PayPal
lolix

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lolix
May 2, 2021 59 Comments

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

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TOP 59 Comments
  • I don’t have any advice to offer but sorry to hear this

    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
    May 2, 2021 1
  • This comment was deleted by original commenter.

  • Box
    ;-

    Go to company page Box

    ;-
    Everyone telling you its totally fine is FUCKIN WRONG. It is NOT! This is a tax problem and not immigration issue. When you are outside US you are not even on H1 Visa. H1 visa is valid only when you are on US soil and this is why you can recapture all the days you are outside US and extend H1 validity.

    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.
    May 3, 2021 5
  • I am stuck in India from past 1+ year. Visa attorneys were closed so struggled to get VISA and once I got the the VISA in March mid my flights were scheduled for 8th May and now flights banned again. I am now losing my patience.
    May 3, 2021 9
    • Box
      ;-

      Go to company page Box

      ;-
      Your post is actually irrelevant to what OP is looking for and can mislead people into thinking you visited India being on a US payroll on a vacation or something and you got stuck there and had no issues working there for 1+ year. Which is not the case. You never even entered US and were always an employee of Indian entity.
      May 3, 2021
    • oh god this is misleading, you were never employed in US, only trying to move
      May 4, 2021
  • Cruise
    hybridwfh

    Go to company page Cruise

    hybridwfh
    An individual can work for a maximum of 6 months outside USA.
    May 2, 2021 3
    • Amazon
      altairezio

      Go to company page Amazon

      altairezio
      This is false info. Two people in my team worked for more than that last year and no questions were asked. My immigration experts also didn't mention anything like that. As long as you are coming back to the states on the same job and role, you are fine.
      May 3, 2021
    • Box
      ;-

      Go to company page Box

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      @Amazon, thats bullshit. Nobody can work for that long on US payroll because you become tax resident of India at 6month mark. Those people you know might have been moved to Indian Amazon entity from Amazon US.
      May 3, 2021