Minimum salary clause cited as reason for refusal of L1 visa by US administration

US Citizenship and Immigration Services has rejected the appeal for a visa to an overseas engineer who was hired on a provisional Work Visa by a US firm in Oregon. It has cited the policy guidance with respect to provisional visas for its global centers in similar cases as the reason for refusal of the visa. The employer firm in the US had offered a pay of 6.47 dollars per hour to the immigrant engineer, quotes the Firstpost.

 

The decision of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services in the I-Corp case is a significant pointer to all the US employer firms who have filed a petition with it. In case the firm intends to mention the wage offered to the immigrant worker in non-US currency, they need to convert it to the necessary minimum salary in US currency to sail through the appeal.

 

If the wage paid to the immigrant worker is meager, then the technical know-how of the immigrant does not have a significant impact on the appeal for visas.

 

USCIS also cited a recent instance of a US firm offering fewer wages than the minimum wage to an overseas worker employed through the L1 visa and has directed its personnel to consider the decision in the case of I-Corp appeal as the benchmark for appeals in the future. In association with the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS is a crucial body that regulates the provisional visas to the US.

 

The reason for this decision of the USCIS gaining significance is that the appeal is with regards to the L1 visa. The L1 visa is different from the H1-B Visa and it does not require that the US firm who that has filed a petition for this visa to attest that the worker would be paid the current wages. In spite of this, the USCIS has taken a firm stand against the 6.47 dollars per hour wage and has said that the employers must adhere to the US federal base salary rate that is 7.25 dollars per hour.

 

As the salary rate is low, the USCIS has taken a rigid stand and has given no consideration to the fact that technical know-how of the L1 immigrant worker in question to be employed in Oregon needs to be given a thought.

 

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