# Upwork (أب وورك)

> Upwork is currently blocked in Syria, as of 2026-08-29.

- Status: blocked
- Outreach: Contacted
- Company: [Upwork](https://unblocksyria.com/en/companies/upwork.md)
- Categories: Freelancing, Payment Services
- Official site: https://www.upwork.com
- Community votes: 375
- Last updated: 2026-08-29
- Page: https://unblocksyria.com/en/services/upwork

## About

Global freelance marketplace connecting businesses with skilled independent professionals

## Activity summary

Blocked in Syria, verified in February 2026. Upwork declined early on, and although Syria was later removed from its published eligibility list, IP blocking, account restrictions and identity verification failures persisted. Repeated outreach through April 2026 drew a substantive reply from the legal team confirming Syria is still unsupported with no committed timeline. A community volunteer pressed the case again on 8 and 9 August 2026 through both the support and legal notices inboxes, and every reply was automated. Upwork has since closed support@upwork.com to email entirely, so contact now runs through the Help Center form or the legal notices inbox. A community member has additionally reported, without supporting evidence, that new accounts reach only the automated assistant and that disclosing a Syrian location to support leads to an immediate ban.

## Official timeline

- 2026-04-13 — Company Responded. Upwork's legal support team responded to the unblocking request via their help center. A Legal Support Analyst confirmed that Upwork is still not supported in Syria and stated the company does not currently have details on if or when access may become available. The response noted that decisions on country availability are handled by internal product and compliance teams, and confirmed that the feedback and supporting documentation have been passed along to the appropriate teams for consideration. This is a substantive human response, but non-committal regarding any timeline or specific action.
- 2026-04-12 — Contacted Company. Official outreach email sent by the UnblockSyria legal advisor to Upwork's legal notices team at legalnotices@upwork.com, requesting a formal compliance review to restore access for users in Syria. The email referenced the 2025 OFAC and BIS sanctions framework updates with supporting documentation, and highlighted that Upwork's own eligibility page no longer lists Syria among restricted countries while technical restrictions remain in place.
- 2026-03-31 — Follow-up Sent. Official follow-up to legalnotices@upwork.com. Highlighted contradiction: Upwork removed Syria from restricted list but IP blocking persists. PeoplePerHour partially restored.
- 2026-03-31 — Follow-up Sent. Official follow-up email sent from corporateaffairs@unblocksyria.com to legalnotices@upwork.com. The email highlighted the contradiction that Upwork removed Syria from its restricted countries list yet IP blocking, account suspensions, and identity verification blocks persist. Cited PeoplePerHour as partially restored and broader platform momentum from GitHub, Cloudflare, Google, and Steam.
- 2026-03-30 — Company Responded. Upwork's Legal Notices team responded to the follow-up outreach via legalnotices@upwork.com with an automated acknowledgment. The response confirmed receipt and stated it serves as proof of receipt for formal legal notices. The response noted this inbox is reserved for legal matters only and that unrelated messages will not receive a response. The response appears to be an automated acknowledgment rather than a substantive engagement.
- 2026-03-10 — Follow-up Sent. A follow-up email was sent to Upwork's support team within the existing ticket #53853517 thread, reiterating the request to review Syria's updated sanctions status. The follow-up referenced the December 2025 OFAC guidance terminating the Syria Sanctions Program and the BIS License Exception SPP, and noted that major platforms including GitHub, Cloudflare, and Steam have already restored access.
- 2026-02-09 — Contacted Company. Outreach email sent to Upwork at legalnotices@upwork.com and legal@upwork.com requesting review of Syria IP restrictions under the current post-sanctions legal framework.

## Community reports

- 2026-08-10 — Note. A community member in Syria reported two obstacles to reaching Upwork's support after the email channel closed. Newly created accounts are said to have no route to human support at all and to be served only by the automated AI assistant, so only holders of older, active accounts can reach a person. The same report warns that stating you are in Syria during a support conversation results in the account being banned immediately. Neither claim has been independently verified and no supporting screenshots were supplied.
- 2026-08-09 — Note. Every reply Upwork returned to the 9 August requests was automated. Three separate automated messages from support@upwork.com confirmed that the company no longer accepts support inquiries by email at that address and directed the sender to the Help Center, which means the channel used for most previous community outreach is now closed. The legal notices inbox returned the same standing acknowledgment received in earlier rounds, confirming receipt while noting that the inbox handles legal matters only. Neither message drew a human response.
- 2026-08-09 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer opened fresh requests with Upwork on 9 August 2026, writing to both the general support inbox at support@upwork.com and the legal notices inbox at legalnotices@upwork.com about Syria's continued blocking. This came one day after the previous follow-up and continues a series of approaches dating back to February 2026. Both messages reached Upwork's ticketing system.
- 2026-08-08 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer sent a further follow-up to Upwork's support team at support@upwork.com, five months after the previous exchange, asking why Syria remains blocked despite the sanctions lift and despite Syria no longer appearing on Upwork's published eligibility page. The email restated that IP blocking, account restrictions, and the inability to verify identity with Syrian documents all remain in place, cited Kaggle's restoration of access and competitor PeoplePerHour's availability, and asked for escalation to Upwork's legal and policy teams.
- 2026-04-10 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer sent a brief follow-up to Upwork's support team at support@upwork.com, requesting a response to the outreach sent nearly four weeks earlier regarding Syria's continued blocking. No new documentation was provided; the message simply reiterated the request for a reply.
- 2026-03-14 — Contacted Company. A community volunteer emailed Upwork's support team at support@upwork.com requesting an explanation for why Syria remains blocked despite no longer appearing on Upwork's restricted countries list. The email noted that an IP block persists on all Syrian IP addresses, that accounts within Syria remain restricted, and that identity verification using Syrian documents is impossible. The volunteer cited Kaggle's recent restoration of access for Syrian users and competitor PeoplePerHour's availability, and requested immediate escalation to Upwork's legal, privacy, and policy teams.
- 2026-03-06 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer sent a follow-up to Upwork's support team at support@upwork.com highlighting that Syria no longer appears on Upwork's restricted countries list, yet IP blocking, account restrictions, and identity verification blocks remain in place. The email noted that Kaggle (a Google subsidiary) had just restored access for Syrian users, and that competitor PeoplePerHour had already re-enabled services. The volunteer requested immediate escalation to Upwork's legal, privacy, and policy decision-making teams.
- 2026-02-19 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer sent multiple follow-up emails to Upwork on the same day: (1) a formal request to legalnotices@upwork.com citing the 2025 OFAC and EU sanctions lift, referencing competitor PeoplePerHour already enabling access, and including unblocksyria.com documentation; (2) a follow-up to support@upwork.com regarding a prior support ticket, noting the ticket was marked resolved despite the issue remaining unresolved for months; (3) a follow-up to support@upwork.com regarding another prior ticket, reporting that auto-close emails keep being sent despite the account still being suspended.
- 2026-02-16 — Follow-up Sent. Follow-up outreach email sent to Upwork's Legal Notices team at legalnotices@upwork.com requesting a policy review of service accessibility in Syria. The email referenced the 2025 OFAC and EU sanctions lift and asked Upwork to review its restrictions preventing Syrian freelancers from accessing the platform.
- 2026-02-14 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer sent an additional request to Upwork at legalnotices@upwork.com, requesting access for users in Syria.
- 2026-02-10 — Evidence Added. User from Syria confirms Upwork is blocked when accessed via DSL connection. Evidence screenshot provided showing the block. (evidence: https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/v5vvmv81b9gemyhv2lwaetma/bm1kq73sfca7s90et5y5tz3d-screenshot-2026-02-11-010558.png)
- 2026-02-10 — Verified. Community member confirmed Upwork is blocked from Syria via DSL connection. Screenshot evidence shows the platform is completely inaccessible. (evidence: https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/v5vvmv81b9gemyhv2lwaetma/bm1kq73sfca7s90et5y5tz3d-screenshot-2026-02-11-010558.png)
- 2026-02-10 — Investigated. A community member reported that Upwork has removed Syria from their restricted countries list on their eligibility page. This needs further verification and testing from within Syria.
- 2026-02-09 — Note. Email to legal@upwork.com bounced — Google Group does not exist or no permission to post
- 2026-02-09 — Company Responded. Upwork Legal Notices team confirmed receipt of the request. They acknowledged the email as proof of receipt and noted they do not waive any rights or defenses.
- 2026-02-06 — Declined. Upwork Trust & Safety team responded stating that Syria is not among their supported locations and services are currently unavailable in that region. They suggested checking back in the future should their service areas expand. Additionally, the volunteer who filed the ticket reported that accessing an Upwork account from Syria — even briefly — without a VPN risks an automatic account ban.
- 2026-01-21 — Contacted Company. A community volunteer contacted Upwork through their official support channel. The request asked Upwork to enable service access for users in Syria, citing the December 2025 OFAC sanctions lift and EU sanctions removal. Official U.S. Treasury documentation and supporting resources from unblocksyria.com were attached to the ticket.

## Context

These are geo-restrictions the companies applied themselves, not filtering by Syrian ISPs and not a legal requirement. US and EU sanctions on Syria were lifted in 2025. See https://unblocksyria.com/llms.txt for the regulatory summary and https://unblocksyria.com/en/about for citations to the specific orders and regulations.

## Machine-readable

- JSON: https://api.unblocksyria.com/services/upwork?locale=en
- Timeline JSON: https://api.unblocksyria.com/services/upwork/timeline?locale=en
- HTML: https://unblocksyria.com/en/services/upwork
- Other languages: https://unblocksyria.com/ar/services/upwork.md, https://unblocksyria.com/ku/services/upwork.md