Minimum salary for IMGs on h1b

[Shoopoo]

Blow for Indian doctors with American dream! US hikes minimum pay by 40% for H1-B health professionals

In an attempt to protect American jobs by reducing the number of immigrants, the US on October 8 mandated that minimum wages for H-1B visa-holders should be 40 per higher on an average

www.businesstoday.in

H1b visa: No change in H-1B wage levels for nearly next two years | World News - Times of India

US News: Employers sponsoring H-1B workers, will be covered by the current wage rules and levels for almost the next two years. A transition phase to the new w

www.google.com

Trump’s H-1B Visa Wage Rule Is Dead: What’s Next?

Even though the H-1B wage rule is dead, efforts to mandate higher salaries for foreign-born professionals likely are not over.

www.forbes.com

I know the ruling is to come in November 2022 about this. But can anyone let me know will increasing the minimum salary impact us IMGs who come to medical residencies (university or community) on h1b? Or this not related to us physicans at all?

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[NotAProgDirector]

IN general, this is a nothingburger. The people who wrote that article don't understand how Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWD) are done.

For anyone new to the H visa requirements, when hiring a foreign employee into a highly paid field (which all H visas are), you must guarantee that the employee will get a good wage. You can't just hire foreigners and underpay them, pushing US citizens out of jobs.

To do this, you're required to calculate a PWD for the position. Then, you determine how trained the person is on a four point scale, from "entry level" to "fully trained and independent". This then sets the minimum wage. Employers can pay more, and often do.

Everyone would agree that interns are "level 1 / entry level". In the current rule, Level 1 minimum is the 17th percentile, and in this new rule it would be raised to the 35th percentile. (it is unclear to me if they really mean "percentile", or 17 / 35% of the average)

First of all, this was a Trump admin request. It's not clear that the Biden admin is interested in pursuing it further. So it may just be dead in the water.

But even if it moves forward, the article assumes that the base salary used would be for "physicians" which is $210K. The article says that "residents must be paid $210K". If that was true, then that would be the end of H visas for residents.

But it's not true. When we do a PWD for residents, we just use the AAMC survey. This compares resident salaries in our geographc region. The DoL accepts these surveys. Since IMG's get paid exactly the same as everyone else, it's not a problem at all -- even if this change went into effect.

The one place this might be a problem is after you finish residency and want a job on an H. Now, your salary needs to be comparable to other physicians in the area, and you'd be at the highest level so would need to be greater than the 90th percentile (or 90% of the average). That might be a problem for some fields, especially in an academic practice. Since academic docs often make less than the average, it's possible that you could run into the H wage floor. But it's also likely that the PWD could be calculated off of an academic survey like MGMA.

 

[Shoopoo]

IN general, this is a nothingburger. The people who wrote that article don't understand how Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWD) are done.

For anyone new to the H visa requirements, when hiring a foreign employee into a highly paid field (which all H visas are), you must guarantee that the employee will get a good wage. You can't just hire foreigners and underpay them, pushing US citizens out of jobs.

To do this, you're required to calculate a PWD for the position. Then, you determine how trained the person is on a four point scale, from "entry level" to "fully trained and independent". This then sets the minimum wage. Employers can pay more, and often do.

Everyone would agree that interns are "level 1 / entry level". In the current rule, Level 1 minimum is the 17th percentile, and in this new rule it would be raised to the 35th percentile. (it is unclear to me if they really mean "percentile", or 17 / 35% of the average)

First of all, this was a Trump admin request. It's not clear that the Biden admin is interested in pursuing it further. So it may just be dead in the water.

But even if it moves forward, the article assumes that the base salary used would be for "physicians" which is $210K. The article says that "residents must be paid $210K". If that was true, then that would be the end of H visas for residents.

But it's not true. When we do a PWD for residents, we just use the AAMC survey. This compares resident salaries in our geographc region. The DoL accepts these surveys. Since IMG's get paid exactly the same as everyone else, it's not a problem at all -- even if this change went into effect.

The one place this might be a problem is after you finish residency and want a job on an H. Now, your salary needs to be comparable to other physicians in the area, and you'd be at the highest level so would need to be greater than the 90th percentile (or 90% of the average). That might be a problem for some fields, especially in an academic practice. Since academic docs often make less than the average, it's possible that you could run into the H wage floor. But it's also likely that the PWD could be calculated off of an academic survey like MGMA.

Thanks for your reply. Guess we gotta wait till November to see if this does take effect and if it would potentially effect academic jobs

 

[Shoopoo]

IN general, this is a nothingburger. The people who wrote that article don't understand how Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWD) are done.

For anyone new to the H visa requirements, when hiring a foreign employee into a highly paid field (which all H visas are), you must guarantee that the employee will get a good wage. You can't just hire foreigners and underpay them, pushing US citizens out of jobs.

To do this, you're required to calculate a PWD for the position. Then, you determine how trained the person is on a four point scale, from "entry level" to "fully trained and independent". This then sets the minimum wage. Employers can pay more, and often do.

Everyone would agree that interns are "level 1 / entry level". In the current rule, Level 1 minimum is the 17th percentile, and in this new rule it would be raised to the 35th percentile. (it is unclear to me if they really mean "percentile", or 17 / 35% of the average)

First of all, this was a Trump admin request. It's not clear that the Biden admin is interested in pursuing it further. So it may just be dead in the water.

But even if it moves forward, the article assumes that the base salary used would be for "physicians" which is $210K. The article says that "residents must be paid $210K". If that was true, then that would be the end of H visas for residents.

But it's not true. When we do a PWD for residents, we just use the AAMC survey. This compares resident salaries in our geographc region. The DoL accepts these surveys. Since IMG's get paid exactly the same as everyone else, it's not a problem at all -- even if this change went into effect.

The one place this might be a problem is after you finish residency and want a job on an H. Now, your salary needs to be comparable to other physicians in the area, and you'd be at the highest level so would need to be greater than the 90th percentile (or 90% of the average). That might be a problem for some fields, especially in an academic practice. Since academic docs often make less than the average, it's possible that you could run into the H wage floor. But it's also likely that the PWD could be calculated off of an academic survey like MGMA.

While one is doing a j1 waiver job, will these PWD also apply? I don't quite understand if one is technically on an h1b visa or not while doing these waiver jobs. And i assume it can be hard to find good paying jobs while doing the waiver, especially academic ones

 

[Shoopoo]

IN general, this is a nothingburger. The people who wrote that article don't understand how Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWD) are done.

For anyone new to the H visa requirements, when hiring a foreign employee into a highly paid field (which all H visas are), you must guarantee that the employee will get a good wage. You can't just hire foreigners and underpay them, pushing US citizens out of jobs.

To do this, you're required to calculate a PWD for the position. Then, you determine how trained the person is on a four point scale, from "entry level" to "fully trained and independent". This then sets the minimum wage. Employers can pay more, and often do.

Everyone would agree that interns are "level 1 / entry level". In the current rule, Level 1 minimum is the 17th percentile, and in this new rule it would be raised to the 35th percentile. (it is unclear to me if they really mean "percentile", or 17 / 35% of the average)

First of all, this was a Trump admin request. It's not clear that the Biden admin is interested in pursuing it further. So it may just be dead in the water.

But even if it moves forward, the article assumes that the base salary used would be for "physicians" which is $210K. The article says that "residents must be paid $210K". If that was true, then that would be the end of H visas for residents.

But it's not true. When we do a PWD for residents, we just use the AAMC survey. This compares resident salaries in our geographc region. The DoL accepts these surveys. Since IMG's get paid exactly the same as everyone else, it's not a problem at all -- even if this change went into effect.

The one place this might be a problem is after you finish residency and want a job on an H. Now, your salary needs to be comparable to other physicians in the area, and you'd be at the highest level so would need to be greater than the 90th percentile (or 90% of the average). That might be a problem for some fields, especially in an academic practice. Since academic docs often make less than the average, it's possible that you could run into the H wage floor. But it's also likely that the PWD could be calculated off of an academic survey like MGMA.

1. Please let me know, currently when PWD is calculated for doctors working at academic centres (after doing their training) is it done through MDMA?
2. If, when the ruling comes, there are significant changes so that the doctor needs to earn a higher salary on h1b, then would that affect only those who apply for a job through an h1b (after their residency) in the following years, or is it going to effect every physician who's already working on an h1b currently?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I can't answer most of your questions.

My understanding is that a J waiver is essentially an H visa, so expect the same rules apply. But I'm not certain.

PWD is determined by the employer's filing with the DoL. They can use standard published rates, or they can submit a survey. I assume you mean the MGMA survey. MDMA is ecstasy, an illegal drug.

Getting a J waiver position, especially in academics, can be a challenge (ignoring this proposed rule change)

 

[gangstasanta]

I can't answer most of your questions.

My understanding is that a J waiver is essentially an H visa, so expect the same rules apply. But I'm not certain.

PWD is determined by the employer's filing with the DoL. They can use standard published rates, or they can submit a survey. I assume you mean the MGMA survey. MDMA is ecstasy, an illegal drug.

Getting a J waiver position, especially in academics, can be a challenge (ignoring this proposed rule change)

I'm really sorry for my typo i was in a hurry. I meant to ask, when academic institutions use a PWD currently, do they also use the MGMA survey?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

They might. It's their choice. Academic places probably use the AAMC survey since it's more academically focused -- but it's completely up to them when they file for the visa.