> US companies are required to pay the "Prevailing Wage" [0] to H-1Bs, so they cannot use foreigners to undercut US citizens.
This is laughable. I do not know how the government calculates those wages, but as someone who got to US on H-1B visa this year I'm making more than 2x the "prevailing wage" listed on my LCA application.
Just to clarify: my job is a Software Architect, in one of East Coast states, and the prevailing wage listed in my application was $84k. So it is not that my salary is especially good, it's this government-mandated one that is a joke.
I'm lucky, because I came here to work for the same company I used to work in my home country so I got offered good terms (somehow H-1B was easier to get than L-1). If some company offered me a job for the "prevailing wage" I would laugh in their face, but I'm sure for some people that would seem like a lucrative offer.
I just checked my own LCA. My listed (and actual) salary on the LCA is 1.07x the listed prevailing wage, but it doesn't include stock or bonus which are part of my total comp. Including those, my total comp is 2.06x the listed prevailing wage.
I know from talking to my American colleagues that my total comp is around the same level as theirs, so at least at my company they don't undercut US citizens.
Your listed PW does seem quite low, and I don't know how they actually measure it. I certainly agree that companies will do whatever they can to lower wages for all worker, and not including stock or bonus in the prevailing wage is ripe for abuse. Perhaps some reform for this law is in order.
That's another thing: my compensation is basically all salary, no stock options of any kind. I think the trick might be that my immigration lawyer listed the PW for "entry level" Software Architect job (is there even such thing?), while I have around 20 years of experience.
Could it be that the prevailing wage is a national average, ie not adjusted for a high col city? I feel like tech salaries especially must swing a lot between flyover states and big coastal cities.
Well, maybe. I mean, my city is really not that high col city: median house price is $450k and the rent outside city center is just $1300 for one bedroom. But salaries in IT are pretty good here, my salary is actually the average for my position that I found on Glassdoor (I used that as a reference point when negotiating relocation with my employer).
This is laughable. I do not know how the government calculates those wages, but as someone who got to US on H-1B visa this year I'm making more than 2x the "prevailing wage" listed on my LCA application.
Just to clarify: my job is a Software Architect, in one of East Coast states, and the prevailing wage listed in my application was $84k. So it is not that my salary is especially good, it's this government-mandated one that is a joke.
I'm lucky, because I came here to work for the same company I used to work in my home country so I got offered good terms (somehow H-1B was easier to get than L-1). If some company offered me a job for the "prevailing wage" I would laugh in their face, but I'm sure for some people that would seem like a lucrative offer.