H-1B Visas are very specific. A certain worker has been approved to be brought into the United States, to work for a specific employee, with a specific job title, performing specific duties, and earning a specific wage. Many individuals begin to feel restless when they are in the exact same position for any extended length of time, but that is the nature of H-1B visas, they are really not meant to be open to change. For the most part, this doesn’t cause too many problems, but it has happened before when it comes to job promotions. If an individual works at a job for years and does a great job, it is only natural to want to give them a promotion, and reward their hard work. However, if that worker currently has an H-1B visa, giving them a promotion could technically put a worker into illegal status. The Department of Labor has been monitoring visa papers much more closely in recent years, so any potential mistakes like this could end up causing very real and very serious issues for an H-1B visa worker, potentially forcing them and their family to leave the country. The rules around this type of situation are simple in theory, but complicated in practice. The way it basically breaks down is that if an H-1B visa worker receives a promotion, then they must get a new H-1B visa. This is true even if a worker is in the same exact company, same exact department, performing almost all of the same exact job duties. In our next entry, we will cover some of the intricacies of giving promotions to H-1B visa workers.