Hey guys, I would be glad if you guys could share some insights on this.

I have been working for as a contractor through an agency as a SQL Developer. Recently, I asked my agent and my boss to sponsor my H1B.
According to my agent, I am getting paid less than my job title and experience ( of course they take a good amount of their share from my wage). So he said one of the reasons why he wouldn't be able to sponsor me is because of this fact. He said the INS or the US government wants the employer to pay the employee the right amount according to the job title and experience to legally sponsor H1B. And my boss is not willing to give a raise to make up for what is lacking in my wage.

Is there anything like someone has to make a certain amount to be sponsored?
I have a feeling that my agent doesn't want to sponsor me. But I need to make sure about the validity of the reason he gave me.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Go to the Labor dept. site and find out what is the prevailing wages for your position in your state. You can have your employer put down that prevailing wage on the paper right now if you think you can be at that leval by you next renewal, i.e 3 years from now.
Or you can always apply H1 with entry level position by lowering your title and/or experience.
Hope that helps.

Since I work for an American staffing company, they might not be willing to lower my title. They think it is illegal and get scared.
Thanks though.

This prevailing wage also has grey area. Different sources quote different numbers. I know minimum is 36000 dollars a year.

-----------karki

Rajesh bro, I don't think $36,000 is the minimum salary for applying for an H1B because I know of people who were got H1B visas last year but still had salaries that were lower than that.

Hurray, I'm sure the lawyer your company will hire to apply for your H1B will be as concerned about you about making sure that the requirements are met. If it does turn out that your salary is lower than the industry average for your skill-set, I'd ask the lawyer to include as much details as possible about the benefits you're receiving such as vacation, sick leave, and health insurance - to try to convince INS that your "net income" is not as bad as the salary suggests.

TitoMitho.

Keep the current salary but change the title. for eg. instead of scientist call yourself "technician", instead of SQL developer call "Assitant SQL developer" etc. Instead of you talking to the employer have the lawyer talk. They know how to communicate these stuff without sweating. Isn't that why we pay the lawyers (just to fill couple of forms and do the talking). Try it. It might just work. Good Luck :)

Thanks a lot guys. Let's see how it goes.