Amazon, Google, and Microsoft warn employees to rush back to the US
With new restrictions and fees on work visas in the US set to take effect at midnight tonight, it’s no surprise that many employers are advising workers abroad to return to the US. Leaked memos from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have been circulating on social media that instruct instruct any H-1B visa holders currently traveling to immediately make travel arrangements to land in the US before 12AM ET on Sunday September 21st. The companies all acknowledge the limited warning provided and apologize, promising to provide more guidance as the situation evolves. The memos also advise any H-1B employees and their H-4 dependents currently in the US to remain and not travel abroad until further notice. Since the changes to the H-1B visa are structured as a travel restriction, employers are concerned that any workers that are part of the program will be denied reentry to the country without a $100,000 fee. We’ve included the full text of...
With new restrictions and fees on work visas in the US set to take effect at midnight tonight, it’s no surprise that many employers are advising workers abroad to return to the US. Leaked memos from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have been circulating on social media that instruct instruct any H-1B visa holders currently traveling to immediately make travel arrangements to land in the US before 12AM ET on Sunday September 21st. The companies all acknowledge the limited warning provided and apologize, promising to provide more guidance as the situation evolves. The memos also advise any H-1B employees and their H-4 dependents currently in the US to remain and not travel abroad until further notice. Since the changes to the H-1B visa are structured as a travel restriction, employers are concerned that any workers that are part of the program will be denied reentry to the country without a $100,000 fee.We’ve included the full text of the leaked memos below. Microsoft declined to comment for this story, and Amazon and Google had not responded at the time of publication. Microsoft:IMPORTANT ADVISORY: New travel restriction for H-1B visa holders Hi all–We have now reviewed the actual text of today’s Presidential Proclamation on H-1B visas, which you can find here: Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers – The White House. Here’s what you need to know: First, the proclamation is structured as a travel restriction. Beginning at 12:01 am eastern time on September 21, 2025 (so, 9:01 pm Pacific time tomorrow), individuals will not be able to enter/return to the U.S. in H-1B status unless their petition has an additional $100,000 payment a**ociated with it. What you need to do:
If you are in H-1B status and are in the U.S., you should remain in the U.S. for the foreseeable future. We know this may interrupt your travel plans. But the critical thing is to stay in the U.S. in order to avoid being denied reentry.
While the proclamation doesn’t reference H-4 dependents, we also recommend that H-4s remain in the U.S.
If you are in H-1B or H-4 status and are currently outside the U.S., we strongly recommend that you do what you can to return to the U.S. tomorrow before the deadline. The Proclamation was released within the last 30 minutes, so we realize that there isn’t much time to make sudden travel arrangements. But again, we strongly encourage you to do your best to return.
I will be updating this post later this evening with a form for people to fill out if they are currently outside the U.S. with an H-1B visa. We want to be able to follow up with each individual and provide support and guidance as they try to return within the next 28 hours. The proclamation does not impact any other visa statuses. There is other content about the pause in processing H-1B petitions for individuals who are outside the U.S. At this time, we do not interpret this to immediately impact extensions of H-1B status or changes of status to H-1B as long as you are currently in the U.S. We’ll share more about that later.Google:We are reaching out with an urgent update regarding international travel for individuals on H-1B visas.A Proclamation is scheduled to take effect this Sunday at 12:01 AM ET. It introduces significant changes to re-entry procedures for H-1B visa holders currently outside the United States. We continue to review the Proclamation, but the initial advice we have received is that re-entry will require a mandatory payment of $100,000 per petition, which may cause substantial delays or prevent re-entry to the U.S.What You Need to Know:If you are currently outside the U.S.:
If you are currently outside the U.S. with a valid H-1B visa, make plans to return and enter the U.S. before the Proclamation takes effect on Sunday, September 21 at 12:01 am ET (i.e. by this Saturday night).
If you are currently in the U.S.:
We strongly advise against any international travel if you are in valid H-1B status or need to travel to activate your H-1B visa. You should remain in the U.S.
Departing the U.S. may result in complications or denial of re-entry under the new policy.
If you are unable to return prior to the deadline in H-1B status: please reach out to go/immigration-help.We understand this may create challenges, and we are here to support you. We are actively monitoring the situation and will keep you updated as we learn more.Amazon:Amazonians,We’ve reviewed the Presidential Proclamation on H-1B visas that was released today and are actively working to gain greater clarity. Here’s what you need to know right now: The proclamation creates a travel restriction starting September 21, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT (9:01 p.m. PDT tomorrow). After this deadline, individuals cannot enter the U.S. on H-1B status without an additional $100,000 payment a**ociated with their petition. Recommended actions for you to take:If you have H-1B status and are in the U.S.: Stay in the country for now, even if you have travel planned for the immediate future. We will continue to provide updates as more details are available.If you have H-4 dependent status: We also recommend you remain in the U.S., though the proclamation doesn’t specifically mention H-4 dependents.If you have H-1B or H-4 status and are outside the U.S.: Try to return before tomorrow’s deadline if possible. We realize this is short notice but returning soon is advisable and you should make every effort possible to clear U.S. customs before 12:00 a.m. EDT (9:00 p.m. PDT) on Sunday, September 21, 2025.At this time, if you have an H-1B or H-4 status and are unable to return before the deadline, we advise that you do not attempt to enter the U.S. until further guidance is provided.
My most important backup lives on a drive I unplug, and that’s the entire reason it still works
It's very easy to preach about a 3-2-1 backup scheme, but actually doing it takes time. It's not particularly difficult, but the money and effort requirement are often what keep most from actually implementing one. Since growing my family and beginning to move more things to the self-hosted realm, I...
It's very easy to preach about a 3-2-1 backup scheme, but actually doing it takes time. It's not particularly difficult, but the money and effort requirement are often what keep most from actually implementing one. Since growing my family and beginning to move more things to the self-hosted realm, I realized that a cold storage backup for my NAS was now mission-critical.
Olivia Miller Seattle
Published by: aplhsindia.in
My phone runs an AI a**istant entirely offline, and I stopped uploading my documents to cloud chatbots
Using a chatbot that doesn't let you upload documents is almost unheard of these days - the document workflow is integral to an AI workflow now. And they've gotten really good at working with documents. However, the docs that would actually benefit the most from the summary-and-query treatment are also...
Using a chatbot that doesn't let you upload documents is almost unheard of these days - the document workflow is integral to an AI workflow now. And they've gotten really good at working with documents. However, the docs that would actually benefit the most from the summary-and-query treatment are also the ones you probably shouldn't be uploading to a cloud bot. A bank statement, legal doc, or medical test is exactly the kind of thing those of us who aren't legal or medical experts need help understanding.
Tristan Kristensen Denmark
Published by: aplhsindia.in
RetroArch’s Netplay feature is why it’s still the best emulation frontend
Emulation is the easiest and most convenient way to experience a lot of classic titles these days, but for many games, there's something missing. Many classic titles relied on multiplayer support for their value, but they were designed to be played on the same console, not over the internet.
Emulation is the easiest and most convenient way to experience a lot of classic titles these days, but for many games, there's something missing. Many classic titles relied on multiplayer support for their value, but they were designed to be played on the same console, not over the internet.
Sophia Wilson Atlanta
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Lenovo confirms Legion Go issues after gamers report bricked devices
Cursed BIOS. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge When a company's software update turns your computer into a useless brick, should fixes be free? Framework, the modular computer startup, apparently thinks so. But it's not clear that computing giant Lenovo will go that far. Three weeks after a...
Cursed BIOS. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge When a company's software update turns your computer into a useless brick, should fixes be free? Framework, the modular computer startup, apparently thinks so. But it's not clear that computing giant Lenovo will go that far.Three weeks after a Redditor presented a nearly $300 repair bill for their handheld gaming PC - among other reports of damage and high repair bills - the company is breaking its silence. It says, in short: try holding down the power button longer, and if that fails, contact customer support.Here's the statement Lenovo provided to The Verge, via communications director Jeff Witt:Lenovo is aware that some Legion Go d …Read the full story at The Verge.
Jane Smith Los Angeles
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Open-source maintainers are drowning in AI-generated garbage, and it’s getting worse
Artificial intelligence has been around in one form or another for decades, but it's quickly growing in scope with the rise of the language models (LLMs). These tools are trained on massive amounts of text to understand, summarize, and generate human-like language. LLMs power hosted tools such as ChatGPT and...
Artificial intelligence has been around in one form or another for decades, but it's quickly growing in scope with the rise of the language models (LLMs). These tools are trained on massive amounts of text to understand, summarize, and generate human-like language. LLMs power hosted tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, while some models are released with downloadable weights that can be run locally (with the right hardware). They're great when used appropriately, but they can cause issues for software development.
Emily Brown Houston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
5 features Claude used to make you pay for that are now free
Almost four years ago, the idea of paying $20 a month for an AI chatbot that simply responded to your queries would have sounded ridiculous. ChatGPT was the tool that introduced millions of people to the concept of generative artificial intelligence, and paying a recurring subscription just to talk to...
Almost four years ago, the idea of paying $20 a month for an AI chatbot that simply responded to your queries would have sounded ridiculous. ChatGPT was the tool that introduced millions of people to the concept of generative artificial intelligence, and paying a recurring subscription just to talk to an AI was hardly something most of us had budgeted for.
Daniel Martinez Dallas
Published by: aplhsindia.in
The cat-and-mouse game over 3D-printed guns has begun
The creator of the world's first 3D-printed gun claims he's developed a way to thwart government-mandated software meant to block 3D printers from making firearms. It's an opening volley in what's shaping up to be an evolving battle between regulators trying to stem the tide of ghost guns and individuals...
The creator of the world's first 3D-printed gun claims he's developed a way to thwart government-mandated software meant to block 3D printers from making firearms. It's an opening volley in what's shaping up to be an evolving battle between regulators trying to stem the tide of ghost guns and individuals trying to create workarounds. Cody Wilson, who claims to have made the detection-defying tool, is calling it "Hochulization" as a direct jab at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who pushed through the nation's first law mandating gun file detection software on new printers earlier this year. "New York is trying to reach into the internet and pol …Read the full story at The Verge.
William Garcia Boston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Plex is asking to share your data for ads, but your opt-out might not be sticking
It's always good to know where your data is going and who's selling it. If you use Plex, there's a good chance you'll see, or have already seen, a big data collection consent screen pop up that asks if you're okay with personalised ads. And while you can opt out...
It's always good to know where your data is going and who's selling it. If you use Plex, there's a good chance you'll see, or have already seen, a big data collection consent screen pop up that asks if you're okay with personalised ads. And while you can opt out of this data collection from this screen, users are reporting that Plex will sometimes opt them back in seemingly by itself.
Daniel Martinez Dallas
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I stopped force-shutting down my PC after Windows 11’s August update fixed this one thing
I confess I don’t turn off my main PC that often, but the times I have over the last year have felt like a struggle. It’s set to shut down when I press the power button because I don’t use hibernate or sleep on my desktop. But I’ve pressed the...
I confess I don’t turn off my main PC that often, but the times I have over the last year have felt like a struggle. It’s set to shut down when I press the power button because I don’t use hibernate or sleep on my desktop. But I’ve pressed the button and wondered whether my PSU or front-panel connector was failing, since the fans kept spinning even as my peripherals and screen went dead. The only thing that got it back was a ten-second press of the power button for a hard reset, and that’s not my intended behavior.
Daniel Martinez Dallas
Published by: aplhsindia.in
The BenQ RD280UG convinced me that 3:2 displays are the future of productivity
I use ultrawide monitors most of the time, so the first few minutes using this 3:2 display from BenQ was an adjustment. But once I got over the initial shock, I discovered how much nicer it is to read text. Or should I say rediscovered, because I grew up on...
I use ultrawide monitors most of the time, so the first few minutes using this 3:2 display from BenQ was an adjustment. But once I got over the initial shock, I discovered how much nicer it is to read text. Or should I say rediscovered, because I grew up on 4:3 and 3:2 monitors, and I'd forgotten how much the added vertical space helps with productivity.F
Olivia Miller Seattle
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I turned my Raspberry Pi Pico into a leverless fightstick, and it was surprisingly easy
Leverless fightsticks have been the craze of the fighting game community for the past few years, with many variations being released. Many of them could get quite expensive, but after learning a bunch about electronics, I realized they’re actually quite simple. I’m not serious enough about fighting games to buy...
Leverless fightsticks have been the craze of the fighting game community for the past few years, with many variations being released. Many of them could get quite expensive, but after learning a bunch about electronics, I realized they’re actually quite simple. I’m not serious enough about fighting games to buy an expensive leverless fightstick. Thankfully, I made a legitimately competitive one for cheap — and customized to my hands!
Olivia Miller Seattle
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I retired my Fire TV Stick after a week with a real Android TV box, and the difference is hard to ignore
I've owned many Fire TV Sticks over the years. They were a viable option until Amazon released the new Fire TV Stick with Vega OS. The locked-down, Linux-powered OS doesn't support sideloading Android apps, so I decided to graduate to a real Android device.
I've owned many Fire TV Sticks over the years. They were a viable option until Amazon released the new Fire TV Stick with Vega OS. The locked-down, Linux-powered OS doesn't support sideloading Android apps, so I decided to graduate to a real Android device.
