AC21 -> 75% Salary Jump is okay?

L

laborvictim

Registered Users (C)
While changing jobs under AC21 clause, (approved 140, pending 485), if the new job salary is 75% higher ( 87K vs 50K ) than the original labor, is it okay?

does it have impact on AC21 same-job criteria?

any suggestions?

thanks.
labor victim.
 
In the AC21 memo (http://www.shusterman.com/pdf/ac21-51205.pdf), Answer to question 5 (regarding wage difference) states that "A difference in the wage offered on the approved labor certification, intital I-140 and the new employment cannot be used as a basis of a denial. However, a substantial discrepancy between the previous and new wage may be taken into consideration as a factor in determining if the new employment is "same or similar" "

Considering that the labor has been filed 4-5 years back and "same or similar" jobs in today's market might even have a 100% or more increase in salary as stated on the labor certification. The AC21 memo does not state any preset limits for wage hikes; which makes it difficult to decide.

Any comments from Ginnu and other experts are appreciated.
 
bboston said:
In the AC21 memo (http://www.shusterman.com/pdf/ac21-51205.pdf), Answer to question 5 (regarding wage difference) states that "A difference in the wage offered on the approved labor certification, intital I-140 and the new employment cannot be used as a basis of a denial. However, a substantial discrepancy between the previous and new wage may be taken into consideration as a factor in determining if the new employment is "same or similar" "

Considering that the labor has been filed 4-5 years back and "same or similar" jobs in today's market might even have a 100% or more increase in salary as stated on the labor certification. The AC21 memo does not state any preset limits for wage hikes; which makes it difficult to decide.

Any comments from Ginnu and other experts are appreciated.
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Thank you bboston.

Ginnu/ Other Experts, any comments?
 
bboston said:
Considering that the labor has been filed 4-5 years back and "same or similar" jobs in today's market might even have a 100% or more increase in salary as stated on the labor certification. The AC21 memo does not state any preset limits for wage hikes; which makes it difficult to decide.
Click to expand...

That seems reasonable; if one can provide evidence that the prevailing wage has gone up in the last few years, that can easily rebut any wage issues. USCIS has always been pretty reasonable on "same or similar".
 
100% hike

I am considering using the ac21, since I am eligible to do so. However, when my labor was applied in 2003, the prevailing wages mentioned by my consulting company was very low. (57K). I have been making 85K in the same company all this time. Now I have a better opportunity to move to a different job where I can get much more. This would mean a 100% increase from the prevailing wages.
Would this cause any problems? I can probably get same job description and similar title (maybe Sr. Programmer analyst). I am not too worried about this.

I will definitely consult a lawyer, but I have seen some experts on this forum whose comments are quite valuable.
 
How about when the change to a different location where the cost of of living is 132% higher and, of course, salaries have to match the actual cost of living? For example, moving to California from Oklahoma with the same position and same duties? The difference in salary would be almost 100% (from 50K to 95K). What would the interpretation be in this case?
 
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