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I always wondered why not make the H1B salary minimum the same as someone exemplary in that field ( H1B salary 1.5x the average for the position ). If someone i

I always wondered why not make the H1B salary minimum the same as someone exemplary in that field ( H1B salary 1.5x the average for the position ). If someone is truly extraordinary then a company wouldn't mind paying a little extra but it would influence the average price up and not down for the field.

rrhd 9y ago
> If someone is truly extraordinary That's not the bar for the visa and never has been.
bduerst 9y ago
It already is. H1B visa holders are required to be paid more than the prevailing wage for citizens working the same SOC job classification in the same region.
- dominotw 9y ago
  >prevailing wage This is a joke as it is currently implemented.
  - bduerst 9y ago
    Is there something wrong with OES or SCA? How exactly?
    - dominotw 9y ago
      Its gamed in many ways. Here is one example, bodyshops are based out of some small town in michigan and they use local prevailing wage for h1b application but employee is sent out to work at newyork .
      - bduerst 9y ago
        The H1B-violator consultancies have been cracked down on by USCIS in the past year. This has become much less of an issue.
      - raincom 9y ago
        Actually, it is tough to operate such body shops: USCIS has hired contractors to do audits/random checks on these consulting companies and their employees. So, outright fraud is very hard these days. That's also another reason why USCIS is going after the employers, who are not typical body shops operating out of some office in Edison, NJ., Kalamazoo, MI., etc.
- natoliniak 9y ago
  I wish that was the case, but it is not. You can verify this yourself as H1B salary data are publicly available http://h1bdata.info http://h1bdata.info. Take a look for example at Wayfair in Boston. Majority of their H1B Developers make around $50k-$70k. This is significantly less than the prevailing wages around Boston, so it is quite clear that they are using H1Bs as cheap labor source.
  - dahdum 9y ago
    Wow - Juniper Networks got approved with $63,960 for "Software Engineer" in Sunnyvale just this year while LinkedIn is paying ~$125k for the same title.
    - bduerst 9y ago
      That's probably because the website is only showing "base" pay. Juniper does performance packages that go well into six figures, which Linkedin might not do.
      - dominotw 9y ago
        In theory performance performance packages can be $0? makes no sense to approve h1b based on performance packages. Also, LinkedIn does give out performance bonuses.
        bduerst 9y ago
        You can lookup the Juniper bonus packages on OFLC if you want (it's what this website data is, but more info). I just checked for sunnyvale engineers making 68k and their bonuses go up to 250k.
        dahdum 9y ago
        Where is that info? Glassdoor has 61 reports of Software Engineer for Juniper with an average of $16k performance bonus on an average base salary of $123k. New H1B hires at ~$65k would end up with lower than that average wouldn't they?

rrhd 9y ago

> If someone is truly extraordinary That's not the bar for the visa and never has been.

bduerst 9y ago

It already is. H1B visa holders are required to be paid more than the prevailing wage for citizens working the same SOC job classification in the same region.

dominotw 9y ago
>prevailing wage This is a joke as it is currently implemented.
- bduerst 9y ago
  Is there something wrong with OES or SCA? How exactly?
  - dominotw 9y ago
    Its gamed in many ways. Here is one example, bodyshops are based out of some small town in michigan and they use local prevailing wage for h1b application but employee is sent out to work at newyork .
    - bduerst 9y ago
      The H1B-violator consultancies have been cracked down on by USCIS in the past year. This has become much less of an issue.
    - raincom 9y ago
      Actually, it is tough to operate such body shops: USCIS has hired contractors to do audits/random checks on these consulting companies and their employees. So, outright fraud is very hard these days. That's also another reason why USCIS is going after the employers, who are not typical body shops operating out of some office in Edison, NJ., Kalamazoo, MI., etc.
natoliniak 9y ago
I wish that was the case, but it is not. You can verify this yourself as H1B salary data are publicly available http://h1bdata.info http://h1bdata.info. Take a look for example at Wayfair in Boston. Majority of their H1B Developers make around $50k-$70k. This is significantly less than the prevailing wages around Boston, so it is quite clear that they are using H1Bs as cheap labor source.
- dahdum 9y ago
  Wow - Juniper Networks got approved with $63,960 for "Software Engineer" in Sunnyvale just this year while LinkedIn is paying ~$125k for the same title.
  - bduerst 9y ago
    That's probably because the website is only showing "base" pay. Juniper does performance packages that go well into six figures, which Linkedin might not do.
    - dominotw 9y ago
      In theory performance performance packages can be $0? makes no sense to approve h1b based on performance packages. Also, LinkedIn does give out performance bonuses.
      - bduerst 9y ago
        You can lookup the Juniper bonus packages on OFLC if you want (it's what this website data is, but more info). I just checked for sunnyvale engineers making 68k and their bonuses go up to 250k.
        dahdum 9y ago
        Where is that info? Glassdoor has 61 reports of Software Engineer for Juniper with an average of $16k performance bonus on an average base salary of $123k. New H1B hires at ~$65k would end up with lower than that average wouldn't they?