Ritika Munjal

Amazon is offering substantial salaries, up to $263,700, to foreign hires for software engineering and other roles under O-1 and H-1B visas. https://lnkd.in/g4cyjH_2

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H-1B and L-1 visas are the backbone for Indian tech professionals and intra-company transfers to the US. But numbers are slowing, shares are dipping, and the latest 2025 data shows a clear shift. Here’s a crisp, data-driven breakdown of what’s happening. #USVisa #VisaUpdate #H1BVisa #L1Visa #WorkInUSA #IndiansAbroad #IndianProfessionals #TechTalent #GlobalMobility #ImmigrationUpdate #CareerAbroad #USVisa2025 #H1B #L1

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📊With the recent news on H1B visas, many of us might have seen a bar chart putting Amazon at the top for “most H1B visas.” It made me pause. We are given some incredible power by access to AI. But what is that power worth if we don’t ask the right questions? If we don’t question the data? 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐘 + 𝐀𝐈 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐘 = 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 Because AI can reframe, recalc, and visualize data in seconds. But without data fluency, we don’t know what to ask. So back to the H-1B visa example: • The chart said Amazon uses the most. • With AI, I asked: “per 1,000 employees?” • Suddenly Meta hops above, Amazon tumbles, and Walmart basically disappears. 💡 Being data fluent means we are critical, we know when a headline misleads. Pairing that with being AI fluent means we can use AI to test, flip, and sharpen our thinking and tell the story. We move from taking data, charts, text, or visuals at face value and we begin to see through it. 👉 Swipe my carousel Data Fluency X AI Fluency and try it yourself: What denominator would you test next? #FutureFluent #DataFluency #AIFluency #CriticalThinking

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Amazon recently made a rare exception to its five-day return to office mandate. Ongoing U.S. visa processing delays like H-1B stamping backlogs and extended administrative processing are now long enough to disrupt active engineering teams. Certain H-1B employees stuck in India due to these delays were allowed to work remotely from India through March 2, 2026. At Amazon alone, this could affect thousands of foreign tech workers per year, and they’re using remote work to manage global talent risk. If you’re running global mobility or workforce planning: Create compliant remote fallbacks for visa-delayed employees. Productive work performed outside the U.S. can trigger visa violations, export-control exposure, and permanent-establishment tax risk - so set clear rules on what work is allowed, what access is restricted, and who approves exceptions. Discourage non-essential international travel for visa holders. This materially reduces the risk of employees getting stranded due to stamping delays / administrative processing. And build fallback hiring paths - map alternatives like remote roles, EOR arrangements, offshore entities, or nearshore hubs so teams can continue work without disruption. p.s. If you manage an immigration program, join our community Ascend to stay ahead of changes and collaborate with peers managing similar programs. Link to apply in comments!

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Indians on H-1B: A Drop in the Ocean, But a Force to Reckon With. As of August 2025, Indians received ~283,397 H-1B visas, just 0.17% of the U.S. workforce of 163.39 million. A drop in the ocean, but one made up of highly skilled professionals driving technology, healthcare, finance, and research. Why the U.S. Should Care? Restricting Indian talent could mean: • Talent Gaps: STEM roles remain hard to fill. • Innovation Risk: Indians fuel patents, startups, and tech breakthroughs. • Lost Edge: Canada, the UK, and Australia are eager to attract this pool. India’s Long-Term Advantage: What looks like a setback may actually strengthen India: • Reverse Brain Drain → talent builds at home. • Startup Growth → more founders stay in India. • Industry Boost → AI, semiconductors, and renewable energy benefit. • Global Talent Hub → India emerges as the world’s skill reservoir. The Big Picture: The 0.17% statistic is misleadingly small because the impact of this community is disproportionately large. For the U.S., limiting H-1B access weakens its innovation engine. For India, it accelerates the opportunity to build a knowledge-driven economy right at home. The question isn’t whether Indians will contribute globally, it’s where they will do it from. And increasingly, that answer may be: from India, for the world.

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🏀 Masterstroke of Creating Chaos - Do H1B hurts Indians? 🏀 OPINION DIFFERS Recent reports indicate that a new U.S. presidential proclamation has significantly altered the H-1B visa landscape, particularly impacting Indian professionals who are the largest group of beneficiaries. Here's a summary of the key "threats" and the current situation: 🌀 The New H-1B Visa Fee The most significant change is the introduction of a steep, one-time fee of $100,000 for new H-1B visa petitions. This is a massive increase from the previous fees, which typically ranged from $2,000 to $5,000. 🌀 Who it affects: This fee applies to new H-1B applications, including those submitted in the next lottery round. It does not apply to current H-1B visa holders or visa renewals. 🌀 Who pays: The fee is to be paid by the sponsoring company, not the individual applicant. 🌀 Purpose: The stated goal of this policy is to limit the program to "very highly skilled" professionals and to prevent companies from using the visa to bring in lower-paid, entry-level workers who could be replaced by American citizens. 🌀 Immediate and Potential Impacts on Indians Reduced opportunities for new applicants: The exorbitant fee makes it economically unfeasible for many companies, especially smaller firms and startups, to hire new H-1B workers. This could drastically reduce the number of new visas issued and limit the career opportunities for Indian professionals seeking to work in the U.S. 🌀 Disruption and uncertainty: The sudden announcement of the policy caused panic and confusion among Indian H-1B visa holders who were outside the U.S. at the time. Despite clarifications that the fee does not apply to existing visa holders, many rushed to return to the U.S. to avoid any potential issues, leading to chaos at airports and a surge in flight ticket prices. 🌀 Impact on Indian IT companies: Indian IT firms are major users of the H-1B visa program. The new fee is expected to significantly increase their operational costs and may force them to rethink their business models, potentially leading to a shift toward more offshore projects. 🌀 Concerns for families: The change can cause significant disruption for families. Spouses and children on H-4 visas are tied to the H-1B visa holder's status, and the uncertainty surrounding the new rules has created a great deal of anxiety. 🌀 India's Response and Potential "Silver Linings" Some experts in India see a potential silver lining in the new policy, suggesting it could lead to a "reverse brain drain." The argument is that if skilled Indian professionals cannot easily go to the U.S., they will return to India, which could boost the domestic economy and accelerate the growth of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) and the Indian technology sector as a whole. Stephen D J A #h1b #visa #visaimpact #Wednesdaytopic

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