Prevailing Wages Difference - Any idea?

[a182]

Hi all,

I am waiting for my PERM to be approved (submitted on October 2017), and while looking for more information I found the "Search for Prevailing Wages" function where I put my information there (same occupation, wage level, and etc.) and found out that on my Form 9089 the Prevailing Wage is significantly lower (around 30%) than what is on DOL site.

Would anybody know the impact of this? If this is correct and these discrepancies are normal.

I see that on my Form 9089, the Prevailing Wage source is "Other - Willis Towers Watson 2016 Professional Survey"

Does that mean that my employer chose to go with this survey instead of the DOL information, and if they had gone with DOL information I would have a much higher salary?

Thanks for the help!

[FrancisJacobGreene]

Hi all,

I am waiting for my PERM to be approved (submitted on October 2017), and while looking for more information I found the "Search for Prevailing Wages" function where I put my information there (same occupation, wage level, and etc.) and found out that on my Form 9089 the Prevailing Wage is significantly lower (around 30%) than what is on DOL site.

Would anybody know the impact of this? If this is correct and these discrepancies are normal.

I see that on my Form 9089, the Prevailing Wage source is "Other - Willis Towers Watson 2016 Professional Survey"

Does that mean that my employer chose to go with this survey instead of the DOL information, and if they had gone with DOL information I would have a much higher salary?

Thanks for the help!

Employers tend to use alternate wage surveys when the employee's salary is currently lower than the expected prevailing wage based on the DOL's OES survey, which is the default survey for prevailing wage determinations. One of the requirements before filing a 9089 is to obtain a prevailing wage determination from the DOL. If the 9089 is filed, it means that the DOL has already issued the prevailing wage determination and approved your employer's request to use the alternate survey, so this portion of the PERM application has been settled. The employer has to pay the wage listed on the 9089 only if and when the employee receives a green card based on the application. If your employer had used the OES, it only means that they would have had to match the salary listed on the 9089 when you get your green card, which could be a long time from now, depending on where you were born.