H-1B visas used by firm to create low-cost workforce, U.S. alleges

[primavera]

50. I'm sorry, that sucks

But I don't know how the employers are managing to hire H-1Bs for less than they're paying US workers. In order for an H-1B to be approved, the employer has to pay - at bare minimum - the prevailing wage determined by the Department of Labor (DoL). If the employer isn't willing to pay the prevailing wage, Labor won't approve it, USCIS won't issue the visa, and the person won't be admitted into the US, period, end of story. I don't know much about the methodology DoL uses to determine what the prevailing wage for a specific position should be, I gather it's some sort of survey they conduct. Hypothetically, I suppose that, if there were enough low paid positions in a specific region for a specific job title, it could impact the survey results, but it would have to be a pretty significant percentage of those positions in order to make an appreciable impact on the overall job market. In my own admittedly anecdotal experience, I've generally found DoL wage determinations to be fairly generous. For example, looking up my own occupation in the prevailing wage tables, I've always fervently wished that I was paid as well as the Department of Labor believes I should be paid. As a US citizen, though, unlike foreign workers, there are virtually no laws governing how little I can be paid, so I've never even come close to making prevailing wage. I know that, in bygone days, it used to be the case that you could employ some sleazy wage determination by some private company who, if you paid them enough, would attest that the prevailing wage for a CEO in New York was $7.50/hour. And yeah, there were employers sleazy enough to use such sleazy services, not many, but some. But I'm pretty sure that they closed that loophole years ago and you now have to use the Department of Labor's wage determination. I suppose you could hire an H-1B employee under a lower-level job description, for which the prevailing wage would be lower, but that would be fraud and, if you ever get caught doing it - and there are ample ways for an employer to get caught - the visa would be immediately revoked and the petitioning employer would be permanently barred from ever again participating in the H-1B program. I hear what you're saying, I'm just at a loss to imagine how it could occur.