Negotiation, offers, total comp
Without naming anything you are not comfortable sharing, what does real green card support look like where you work? Timeline to PERM, who pays, EB-2 vs EB-3? Comparing helps everyone negotiate better.
For H-1B and PERM, the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and location, set by DOL wage levels. This is why the same title pays differently across cities, and why a lowball offer can actually create sponsorship problems. Knowing your role wage level helps you sanity-check an offer. Have you looked up the prevailing wage for your role?
This is the question people are afraid to ask and later regret skipping. It is reasonable to ask, in writing, whether the company sponsors employment-based green cards, at what point after joining, and who pays the legal and filing costs. Policies vary widely, some start PERM at year one, some never do. Asking early is normal and protects you. How did you raise it without sounding demanding?
Base salary is only part of the picture for us. Weigh whether the employer sponsors H-1B, whether they will start and pay for the PERM green card process, how soon, and whether they cover legal fees. An offer that is a few thousand higher but has no green card support can be worth far less over five years. What factors do you weigh beyond base?
