Check the following question and answer posted at "http://www.usvisanews.com/wedquest120402.html"
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Question: If I am earning much less than the wage listed on the labor certification, will this be a problem? The wage listed on the labor certification is 92K and I am earning 74K. The company is not willing to pay 92k upon GC approval because this is a huge increase. Can you tell me if it is legal/possible to file I- 140/485 without asking the employer to pay 92k on GC approval? For example, I have heard that paying just 90% of the salary as in LC is accepted by INS. Is this true? What are my chances of approval?
Answer:
That is a big problem. The discrepancy you are talking about is way too much. The current law does have a provision that states that the employer may pay 95% of the prevailing wage. Your question does not tell me anything about the prevailing wage. If the prevailing wage is 74k or lower, then the solution is simple: contact the DOL and let them know that you want to amend the salary downward.
Of course, I fear that what we are talking about is a situation where the prevailing wage is 92K. If that is the case, the reader will definitely encounter a problem at the I-140 stage. While it is true that the wage does not have to be paid until the petition is actually approved, there is a question as to whether the INS officer thinks that payment of the appropriate wage is likely. Now, if I were an INS officer, I might believe that someone with a salary of 88K will go up to 92K. However, I would have a hard time believing that a salary is really going to increase by almost 20K in a short amount of time. In a situation like this an I-140 denial is very likely.
