Salary for AC21 Issues ...MUST READ

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dsatish

Registered Users (C)
Hi fellos,
One of the most controversial and unclear issue for people using AC21 act for job change is the Saary issue. Most of the time, the
LC shows a very high salary (intentionally inflated by sponsoring employee) and it is very difficult to get a new job with such a high Salary in the current job market.
In this context, I REQUEST ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE AT THE VERGE OF GETTING THEIR 'GC' TO WRITE ABOUT HOW THEY MANAGED THE SALARY ISSUE. Please write about this when your
'GC' is approved.
Ofcourse this request goes to only those WHO HAVE CHANGED JOB AND WHO HAVE GOT RFE.
 
Originally posted by dsatish

One of the most controversial and unclear issue for people using AC21 act for job change is the Saary issue. Most of the time, the
LC shows a very high salary (intentionally inflated by sponsoring employee) and it is very difficult to get a new job with such a high Salary in the current job market.
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, my LC salary was $77,000. After I got laid off, I took a job at $71,000. Since then my salary + bonus/401K match has grown above the LC level.

Two things: first, who "intentionally inflated" the amount? The LC figure is what you're going to be paid after the GC. The higher it is, the more likely you are to get American responses to the ads. I don't see whose advantage it is to inflate that.

Second, the AC21 implementation memo doesn't explicitly state that the salary be equal to that in the LC. The job needs to be "similar", and that doesn't preclude a lower salary. However, the memo also instructs ajudicators to consider the salary when determining if a job is truly similar. I think that the $71k job would have been OK (although I am happy to make more just to be safe). However, a $51k job might be more highly scrutinized, as would a $96k job.
 
Re:
However, a $51k job might be more highly scrutinized, as would a $96k job.


Pl Share this info here.
Highly scrutinized means that one can change jobs even if the salary accepted is lower than what was initially specified in LC.
How come there is a difference in statements?
Murthy says it has to be similar or more. Someone here said the same what you are saying.
Can you post some links which clearly species what the law says.
I am in urgent need of this info and even my attorney says that it should be similar or higher.
Thanks
 
I am not sure how salary on LC can be 'inflated'. Based on your job profile and region, the govt/DOL statistics and/or the occupational outlook handbook is used to determine what should be the minimum salary. As long as you make above that, an American's job is not taken away.

So, even if you made $100K but the LC for the job category is $75K, if you change jobs and make $80K, you should be fine. If you go lower than LC (<$75K), there are risks (that is what Murthy is mentioning) and if you made too much (maybe >$200K wild guess), that may rise a flag as INS may perceive you should be in a different job category. Hence, the key number in this example is $75K (what is determined by DOL for the job category).
 
well my LC salary(and actual) was 87.5 K . my company went belly up and found a job with 78K. my application transferred to local INS and was interviewed for more than half an hour. not a single question was asked about salary. I guess for the most part they wanted to verify if I really had a job or not.

and of course was approved and stamped on the spot. so don't worry to much.

anyway if any concern was raised about it I was prepared with standard of living index etc. of my previous locatoin and current location.

honestly I don't think they are bothered. Is there any standard for salary in US? Even in same company two person with same role might have huge difference in salary depending on their perceived value to the company.

so similar job may not pay you similar salary. all depends on market, location and your bargaining power.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience. Some one asked me about what i meant by 'inflating the salary'. My company mentioned that
i will be paid at $40/hr in the LC where as my current salary with them is $30/hr. It's really difficult to find a job at $40/hr which comes out to 80K.

I request all other people (who have been approved after job change) to share their experiences. It helps every one here because almost every one is going to change job before GC
(now that it's going to take 1.5 to 2 years to get GC after I485 is filed)
 
Hi,

Very interesting topic. My situation is slightly different. My LC salary is 45K and I am drawing 75K. I have not changed the job yet.

My question is what happens when it is time to decide my 485. Will 30K more than the LC pay pose a problem ? I have not got a convincing answer to this so far.

Please respond if some one has a similar situation.

Thanks !
 
I am no expert but first reaction in case of Acutal>>>>>LC will be to raise doubts about veracity of your job description. I wonder if 60% hike over LC salary can be explained by good performance alone.

RD 1/17/02
EAD renewed - 3/13
 
Why not?

dodital,

what if we have proof of such an increase. I have every pay stub for the past 5 1/2 years and the salary increased to a little more then 100%. Desi companies start off less and incease rapidly to the saturation level (typically). We woudnt be in this "salary" problem if INS processed cases in a reasonable timeframe.
 
Hello brokenarrow

This is just an opinion because only you have the specifics of your case.

INS may view it this way- for the same job description the salary has doubled in 5 years. It may or may not be not in line with their salary survey.

Remember, it is just an opinion.
 
Hi Guys,
Looking at Pachha's case and also at Murthy.com's website, it looks like Salary is not an issue for AC21 cases. There is nothing in te law that talks about the Salary. The important thing is the nature of the job and Job description.
So i assume that there won't be any problems even if your new salary is less than salary mentioned in LC by 10K or 20K.

-Satish.
 
One of my friend got Approved their GC without any problem.

I dont know he got RFE or not.

His company will pay starting salry for people who ever joined irrespective of exp from45 to 60K. at the time GC approval his salry is 110K almost doubled .He got approved.

Another collegue of mine his salray in LC was 52K(this is with different company) at the time of I-140 filling or later he got RFE they denied his pettition .He changed his job immediatley.

So NO IDEA how it really works

Good luck to all
 
canus_immi :

I am curious to hear about the status of your friend's case whose application u say was denied. What were the circumstances..and when was it denied ??
 
LC salary requirement in NJ?

Where or How do I know the LC salary for NJ state, or which website? I made 70k before, got laid off last year, now took a job offered 50k. It is so low, but I have no choice. It is better than nothing.
Wondering the impact on GC process.
 
hoping_for_gc ,

that was long time back story .Now joined in differnet company they filed is GC in I-140 with LC substution.

Good luck to all
 
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