Changing Jobs , different designation, less pay.

A

aravind741

Registered Users (C)
I am working ( for now) in company A. Company A applied for GC for the position of Programmer Analyst with salary X in Chicago, Illinois. I got EAD and 180 days passed. Now I got another job from Company B , job title Software Engineer and salary is 80% of X and location is Monre, NC (30 miles from Charlotte). If I apply AC21 and produce an employment letter with same duties mentioned in LC would I be safe?

Does the geographic location and current economy situation determine my wages?

Thanks,
aravind741
 
- Geographic location does not matter (atleast has not been an issue till date)

- Title can be different if u manage the same job description. Try to talk to ur employer about providing a lettter with the same title as ur LC, but even if just the job desc is same, u should be in good shape.

- salary is a tricky question. Till a few months ago, everybody believed that salary was not an issue unless u were a "public charge". However, in recent memos, BCIS has started mentioning salary.. Not very clear at this time. Many lawyers say 10-15% difference is ok, so u could be a border line case. Note that ur salary mentioned in LC can be different than your actual salary being paid by Employer A.

Are u expecting company A to lay u off? If so, i would say take up the new job and try to work up ur salary as u get near to approval/RFE. Having a "similar" job with lower salary is better than being unemployed. However, if there are no lay off issues, stick with your current job till u can find a position with similar salary.

goodluck

-ab
 
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Thanks, ab
I am not getting laid off, I am getting permanent offer. I may be getting reviews and i may get a bonus of 10% in next 1 year or so. I submitted by 485 on Jan 2003. so I think i will be within 10-15% off of my original LC salary.
 
Don't worry about 10-15% difference .Lesser Salary should'nt be an issue as long as your job description/duties are similar as per your LC & related Occ.code.
 
aravind,

If you can make it in the 10-15% range, u should be fine... Included below is a Q/A from Atty Murthy's session last week regaring the issue for ur further reference:

Chat User : I am going to change employers using the AC21 Act. If I am getting a salary of 30K greater than what was mentioned in the LC, is there a problem for I-485 approval?

Attorney Murthy : The BCIS has stated that a great variation in the salary may indicate that the job is not the "same or similar" job. This will pose a problem since, for AC21 portability to apply, the job has to be the same or similar in order to obtain an approval. These are some of the issues on which we do not yet have clear-cut answers from the BCIS, so, making the argument that it is indeed the same, or a similar job would be required in order to obtain the I-485 approval.

http://www.murthy.com/chat0908.html

goodluck

-ab
 
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