Agent User

There may be a potential opportunity for me to work for a internet
startup through H1B sponsorship - however, they would be unable to pay
my full salary until some time next year and are offering stock
options with generous conditions as a temporary alternative. How will
this affect the prevailing wage determination in the process of
applying for an H1-B visa?

How was this obstacle overcome in the dot com boom?

Thanks

Ingo Pakleppa - See Web Site For Email

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 18:34:14 +0000, Agent User wrote:

    > There may be a potential opportunity for me to work for a internet
    > startup through H1B sponsorship - however, they would be unable to pay
    > my full salary until some time next year and are offering stock options
    > with generous conditions as a temporary alternative. How will this
    > affect the prevailing wage determination in the process of applying for
    > an H1-B visa?

Personally, I would caution you against that. Not just from an immigration
standpoint, but also from a risk standpoint - you are essentially putting
all your eggs in a single basket. If the company goes under, you will not
only be jobless and without a visa, but also without money. Not a good
situation to be in, and don't let $$$ signs blind you to the downside. And
also do be sure to consult with a couple knowledgeable experienced people
about the valuation of the stock options. Make sure that they are really
worth what you are paying for them.

From the immigration point of view, what matters is whether Americans
would also consider this type of compensation adequate.

In effect, you would have to be paid the prevailing wage, and then, by
contract, use the proceeds of your salary to buy stock options. The fact
that this purchase is mandatory makes a huge difference - against you. And
once again, make sure that you determine a true fair market value of the
stock options. Otherwise, later Department of Labor could come back and
say that "you claimed to have earned $100k in that job, but the stock
options really only were worth $10k when you received them"

And finally, don't forget that you will still have to pay taxes on the
full salary (if you choose to treat the stock options as stock options in
terms of taxes, your income would be too far below the prevailing wage. I
don't think you can count the stock options towards your income in that
context).

    > How was this obstacle overcome in the dot com boom?

Remember that the startups generally were flush with venture capital cash.
Most were easily able to pay the salaries, and offer stock options on top
of that.

--
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supernav

> and are offering stock
>options with generous conditions as a temporary alternative

Good lord. Didn't you learn ANYTHING from the dot-com bust yet?? Join the line of internet workers who worked for minimum wage, 80 hours a week -- and in the end, had stocks worth 3cents a share.

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