Anyone in the same boat? Please advise

I

Inspire

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I am in a situation where I am close to getting an employment RFE. My problem is that my current salary is almost 30% lower than that was specified in the labor certification. I haven't changed any company, and my company told me about a year ago that they would increase my salary to the specified level once the green card is approved. My question is what kind of trouble am I likely to get into when the IIO sees that my salary is so much lower? Anyone else in the same situation? Please give me advice about what I should be doing now.

You input will be very much appreciated.
 
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First off, as long as the company sticks to the terms of the proffered position (the one that you would take up once your I485 is approved) you should have no issues. Further, there are indications that INS has accepted some salary degradation due to the softening of the economy. Having said that a difference of 30% is difficult to explain and may raise eyebrows.

The best way forward would be to ask your firm to raise your salary closer to the LC level, say to within 10-15%, and respond to any RFE on that basis.

Of-course, the extra money is helpful too!
 
Thanks Sankrityayan for your reply. One of my company immigration lawyers told me that BCIS expects the salary to be within 95% of the labor certification amount during the time of approval. This does not make sense to me, given that the green card itself is for the future employment. I am not sure if I am interpreting his response wrong. Any comment on this?

thx
 
Inspire:

Here is my take on this. Technically, the greencard is for a future job and in principle, you should be o.k. if the company sticks to paying that wage after the greencard is approved.

However, in most situations (which may or may not be true in your case), tha applicant is already working with the same employer for the same job that forms the basis for the greencard appl. In that case, looking from the perspective of a BCIS adjudicator, it doesnt "smell" right that you are being paid 30% less now and would be paid the whole proferred wage as soon as the petition is approved (for absolutely no change in job title or responsibility). That is the reason why a large difference in salary is likely to raise suspicion. As per your lawyer, having the current salary close to the proferred wage (95%) is playing it safe and unlikely to raise eyebrows.

Sankrityayan's suggestion sounds reasonable, assuming your company aggrees to it, more so, if it is to an amount much closer or equal to the proferred wage. After all, it might be just a month or two earlier than when the company would otherwise pay you that wage. Perhaps you can have them agree to pay 95% of the wage even after the approval (starting from the RFE response time), which might make things even for them in the long run.

K.S.
 
sivajhu, Sankrityayan.

Great suggestions! The problem with asking for a raise right now is that the company is about to lay off 20% of its workforce, it probably wouldn't be wise to push them for a raise right now. However, they did put into writing last year that they would raise my salary as soon as it is approved. But, this probably can't be used in the RFE response.

I am following up with the HR's immigration dept. I will find out what they can do say soon. Don't wanna lose too much sleep on this. I am wondering whether looking for another job to avoid this situation at this stage would be wise! What do u guys think? My RD is 01/24/02.

I very much appreciate your responses.

thx
 
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