PERM Offered Wage vs Your Current Salary: Do You Have to Be Paid the Green Card Wage Now?

The salary on your PERM notice is a promise about your green card job, not your next paycheck, but it still shapes your I-140, your raises and any job change.

By F1Jobs Team · 2026-11-01 · 11 min read

A factory break room at shift change, with rows of metal lockers and a long wooden bench under flat fluorescent light

Part of our guide to H-1B wage levels.

If your PERM wage is higher than your current salary, your employer generally does not have to start paying it now. The offered wage on Form ETA-9089 is the wage for the green card job, and DOL's rule ties the wage promise to when you begin that job, which for an H-1B worker already on the payroll is generally read as the day you become a permanent resident. What the employer must prove sooner is that it can pay that wage, from your priority date onward. Your H-1B paycheck, meanwhile, must meet your LCA wage every pay period.

Status as of November 1, 2026: the PERM wage rules (20 CFR part 656) and the ability-to-pay rule (8 CFR 204.5(g)(2)) are in effect and unchanged. DOL's prevailing-wage rule (RIN 1205-AC30) is proposed only (NPRM 2026-03-27; no final rule, not at OIRA). DOL's PERM labor-market-test NPRM (RIN 1205-AC29) cleared OIRA review on 2026-10-23 but is unpublished, so current recruitment rules still apply.

Is a PERM wage higher than your current salary a problem?

Usually not. Permanent labor certification covers the permanent job you take as a permanent resident, so a PERM wage above today's pay is common. Your employer attests that it will pay at least the prevailing wage when you begin that job, and it must show it can afford the offered wage from your priority date. Today, you are owed your H-1B LCA wage.

If you are earlier in the process, our guide to getting a green card while on H-1B lays out the PERM, I-140 and I-485 sequence.

LCA wage vs PERM offered wage: two different promises

H-1B LCA wage vs PERM offered wage, as of 2026-11 (both rules in effect, unchanged)

Question	H-1B LCA wage	PERM offered wage
Where it is written	Labor Condition Application, Form ETA-9035 or 9035E	Form ETA-9089, filed in DOL's FLAG system
Rule	20 CFR 655.731	20 CFR 656.10(c)(1) and 656.40
The floor	The greater of the actual wage or the prevailing wage for your H-1B job	At least the prevailing wage DOL determined for the green card job
When it is owed	Every pay period, "for the entire period of authorized employment"	From when you begin the certified job, generally read as when you become a permanent resident
What the employer must show now	That it is paying it	That it can pay it, from the priority date until you become a permanent resident
Who checks	DOL's Wage and Hour Division	DOL certifies the PERM; USCIS checks ability to pay at the I-140 and can look again later
If it falls short	Back wages and, for willful violators, debarment	I-140 denial, or revocation of an approval

Check the LCA wage against your paystub this month; our paystub check for H-1B actual and prevailing wage walks through it. The PERM offered wage is a commitment about a job you have not legally started yet.

When do you have to be paid the PERM wage?

Generally not until you start the certified job, which for an H-1B worker adjusting status is read as the day the green card is approved. In the PERM application your employer attests that "the wage the employer will pay to the alien to begin work will equal or exceed the prevailing wage that is applicable at the time the alien begins work or from the time the alien is admitted to take up the certified employment" (20 CFR 656.10(c)(1)).

"To begin work." For someone abroad, the certified job starts on admission as an immigrant. For an H-1B worker adjusting status, practitioners generally read it as starting at green card approval, so the offered wage is not required while the case is pending. The regulation does not name that date, so confirm how it applies to you with the employer's attorney.
"Equal or exceed." The prevailing wage is a floor; earning more than it does not breach the attestation.
"Applicable at the time the alien begins work." The floor is the prevailing wage when you begin, not only the number on the determination. How that applies years after a determination is a question for the attorney.

Where the offered wage matters at each stage

A typical H-1B-to-green-card case, with DOL snapshots where they exist. Your own filed forms and notices govern.

The offered wage across a PERM case, with processing snapshots as of 2026-11

Stage	What happens	What the wage has to do	Snapshot
Prevailing wage request	Employer files Form ETA-9141 in FLAG; DOL issues a prevailing wage determination (PWD)	Sets the floor; valid 90 days to 1 year, and the employer must file or begin recruitment inside that window (20 CFR 656.40(c))	As of 2026-09-30, DOL was working PERM PWDs received in June 2026; about 49,034 PERM requests received April to September were pending
Recruitment and notice	Ads run; a notice of filing is posted at the worksite for at least 10 consecutive business days	The notice states a rate of pay at or above the prevailing wage	No published queue
ETA-9089 filed	The date DOL accepts it becomes your priority date (8 CFR 204.5(d))	Offered wage must equal or exceed the PWD; the ability-to-pay clock starts	As of 2026-10-21, analyst review was at January 2026 priority dates; average analyst review 303 days (August 2026 determinations)
I-140	Employer files with USCIS	Evidence of ability to pay for each year from the priority date	See the USCIS processing-times tool
I-485	Filed when your priority date is earlier than the cutoff in the chart USCIS designates; for November 2026, the Dates for Filing chart	Form I-485 Supplement J confirms the job offer, or requests portability	December 2026 bulletin not out as of 2026-11-01
Green card approved	You begin the certified job as a permanent resident	The certified offer takes effect: the offered wage, at or above the prevailing wage	n/a

Use DOL's live FLAG processing times page, not this snapshot. DOL updates PERM and PWD times at the end of the first work week of each month, so the next update was expected around 2026-11-06.

Why is the PERM salary on the job posting higher than mine?

Because the posting describes the green card job and must meet DOL's prevailing wage for that job, which can be set differently from your H-1B wage.

The notice has to show it. In a standard PERM case the notice of filing must state a rate of pay at or above the prevailing wage (20 CFR 656.10(d)(4)) and is posted where workers can readily read it, such as near the wage and hour posters. That is why many people first see their green card number on a break-room notice board. Ads cannot contain "a wage rate lower than the prevailing wage rate" (20 CFR 656.17(f)).
The PERM job can be a future role: the position you are expected to hold at green card time rather than today's title.
Different requirements, different level. DOL sets the PWD from the duties and minimum requirements in the request. If the PERM job lists more education or experience than your H-1B role, the determination can land at a higher wage level than your LCA used (our reading of how the two filings commonly diverge).
Newer wage data. An LCA filed years ago and a recent PWD can rest on different years of wage data.

So the question for today is whether your pay meets your LCA wage. DOL's OFLC disclosure files on its performance data page (latest: FY2026 Q3, through 2026-06-30) list decided LCA and PERM cases with their wages, and our walkthrough on how to check whether a company sponsors green cards through PERM shows how to search them.

What does ability to pay mean, and what if your employer can't show it?

Ability to pay is the employer's proof that it can afford the offered wage, and it runs on a long clock. Under 8 CFR 204.5(g)(2), the petition "must be accompanied by evidence" of it, and the employer must demonstrate it from the date your priority date is established until you obtain lawful permanent residence. The required evidence is annual reports, federal tax returns or audited financial statements; an employer with 100 or more workers may submit a financial officer's statement, which USCIS can decide is not enough on its own.

The USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part E, Chapter 4 (current as of 2026-10-27) explains how officers read the evidence:

Wages already paid to you. Paying you at least the offered wage for each year from the priority date "may establish" ability to pay, shown with W-2s, 1099-MISCs or state wage and withholding reports. The financial documents above are still required.
The shortfall test. If it paid you less, the petitioner "need only demonstrate that its net income or net current assets" cover the difference.
No stacking. USCIS "does not add net income to net current assets," does not add back depreciation and generally does not count total assets.
Totality of circumstances. Officers can weigh revenue, wages paid to current staff, years in business and industry reputation, for example when a petitioner has "one unprofitable year despite a history of profitability."
Several sponsored workers. The employer must show it can pay each beneficiary's offered wage from the priority date of the petition under review. Workers who already became permanent residents, and petitions withdrawn or denied or revoked with no appeal or motion pending, are left out.

Some employers raise you to the offered wage before the I-140 because it is the simplest proof for those years; that is a business choice, not a legal requirement. The evidence must also be complete at filing. Since 2026-08-05, PA-2026-05 lets officers deny a request without an RFE or NOID when required initial evidence is missing (in effect; challenged in AAUP v. Mullin, filed 2026-10-05, no ruling as of 2026-11-01), so a missing year of ability-to-pay evidence now carries more risk (our reading).

If the employer cannot show it, USCIS can deny the I-140, and the Policy Manual says USCIS "can reexamine ability to pay in post-adjudication proceedings." A denied petition does not establish a priority date (8 CFR 204.5(e)(3)). If your employer had a loss year or thin net income, raise it with its immigration attorney before the I-140 is filed. For what an approval does and does not settle, see whether I-140 approval means you have a green card.

Does a raise, pay cut or job change affect your PERM wage?

A raise rarely causes a problem; a pay cut or a new employer needs a closer look, depending on your stage.

A raise. Earning more than the offered wage fits both the LCA and the PERM rules. A promotion into materially different duties is another matter: the green card is for the certified job, so ask the attorney whether the new role still matches it. Our guide to taking a promotion during the green card process covers that case.
A pay cut. On H-1B, pay cannot fall below the LCA required wage. A cut below the offered wage does not by itself break the PERM, but it removes the easiest ability-to-pay proof for that year, so the employer would lean on net income, net current assets or its overall circumstances (our reading).
A new employer before your I-140 is approved. The new employer generally starts a new PERM, with its own prevailing and offered wage, unless 204(j) portability already applies.
A new employer after approval. An approved EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 petition generally lets you keep its priority date for a later petition in those categories, unless the approval is revoked for fraud or willful misrepresentation, DOL revocation or invalidation of the labor certification, or material error (8 CFR 204.5(e)).
A new job once your I-485 has been pending 180 days or more. If your I-140 is approved, or is pending and "ultimately approved", INA 204(j) lets you port to a job in the same or a similar occupational classification using Form I-485 Supplement J. The USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part E, Chapter 5 says "a difference in salaries alone would not preclude an officer from finding" the jobs similar, and that "normal raises occur through the passage of time to account for inflation or promotion." If you port while the I-140 is still pending, USCIS still checks ability to pay, but per the Volume 6 chapter only "from the priority date until the filing date of the petition."

Our AC21 portability guide covers the 180-day clock and the same-or-similar test in more detail.

Will the proposed DOL wage rule raise my PERM wage?

Not today. DOL's prevailing-wage rule (RIN 1205-AC30) is proposed: the NPRM was published on 2026-03-27, and as of 2026-11-01 there is no final rule and none is at OIRA. It would raise the percentile behind each wage level: Level I from the 17th to the 34th, Level II from the 34th to the 52nd, Level III from the 50th to the 70th and Level IV from the 67th to the 88th (full text on govinfo).

A proposal changes nothing on your case. The PWD, PERM and I-140 on file govern.
Transition rules do not exist yet. Whether a final rule would reach pending requests, issued determinations or filed cases depends on text not yet written. Anyone quoting your "new" PERM wage is guessing.
The labor-market-test NPRM is separate. RIN 1205-AC29, "Modernizing the Labor Market Test and Improving Protections for U.S. Workers in the PERM Immigrant Visa Program", concluded OIRA review on 2026-10-23 "Consistent with Change" (OIRA completed-review list). It is unpublished, with no public text and no open comment period; 20 CFR 656.17 still governs recruitment.

For how a final wage rule could reach a pending case, see our breakdown of what the prevailing wage NPRM means for your PERM case.

What to do next: a five-step check

Ask HR or your employer's immigration attorney for the prevailing wage on your PWD (Form ETA-9141) and the offered wage on your filed Form ETA-9089.
Compare your paystub with the wage on your H-1B LCA (Form ETA-9035 or 9035E) in your employer's public access file. That is the wage owed today.
Ask how the employer will document ability to pay with the I-140: wages paid to you, net income or net current assets, or a financial officer's statement.
Raise any promotion, pay cut, relocation or outside offer with the attorney before you accept it, and ask whether it affects the certified job or a future Supplement J.
Watch the Federal Register for RIN 1205-AC30 and RIN 1205-AC29; a proposal changes nothing until a final rule says how and when.

Common mistakes

Reading a higher PERM notice as underpayment. The notice shows at least the prevailing wage for the green card job (20 CFR 656.10(d)(4)). Your current pay is measured against your LCA (20 CFR 655.731); pay below that is a separate matter for DOL's Wage and Hour Division.
Assuming lower pay sinks the I-140. Paying you less than the offered wage before the green card is generally allowed; the employer then covers the gap through net income, net current assets or its overall circumstances.
Changing jobs without checking the stage. Priority-date retention and 204(j) portability have specific conditions; a move at the wrong moment can mean a new PERM.
Treating a proposal as a rule. RIN 1205-AC30 changes no wage until a final rule exists.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to be paid the PERM wage right away?

Generally no. Under 20 CFR 656.10(c)(1) the wage promise applies when you begin the certified job, generally read as the day an H-1B worker already with the sponsor becomes a permanent resident. Until then you are owed your LCA wage, and the employer must be able to show it can afford the offered wage from your priority date. These rules are in effect and unchanged as of November 1, 2026.

Why is the PERM salary on the job posting higher than mine?

The PERM notice of filing must state a rate of pay at or above the prevailing wage DOL set for the green card job (20 CFR 656.10(d)(4)). That job can be a future role, carry requirements that set a different wage level than your LCA, or use newer wage data. A higher number does not by itself mean you are underpaid today.

What if my employer can't show ability to pay the PERM wage?

USCIS can deny the I-140, and because 8 CFR 204.5(g)(2) requires that ability from the priority date until you become a permanent resident, USCIS can also reexamine it after approval. Employers rely on wages paid to you, net income or net current assets covering any shortfall, or the totality of their circumstances. Raise any doubt with the employer's immigration attorney before the I-140 is filed.

Does my H-1B LCA wage have to match the PERM wage?

No. The LCA wage, the greater of the actual wage or the prevailing wage for your H-1B job under 20 CFR 655.731, is owed on every paycheck now. The PERM offered wage comes from a separate DOL determination for the permanent job, so the two can differ. Neither rule has changed as of November 2026.

Will the proposed DOL wage rule raise my PERM wage?

Not today. DOL's prevailing-wage rule (RIN 1205-AC30) is only proposed (NPRM published 2026-03-27), and as of 2026-11-01 there is no final rule and none is at OIRA. How a final rule would treat pending or issued determinations depends on text that does not exist yet, so no one can tell you a new number.

Sources

How we checked this: we read the regulations above on eCFR and Cornell LII, both USCIS Policy Manual chapters (marked current as of 2026-10-27), PA-2026-05, DOL's program, debarment, performance and FLAG pages, and the Federal Register, govinfo and OIRA records on 2026-11-01 and 2026-11-02.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your own filed forms and notices govern, and decisions about your PERM, I-140 or a job change belong with your employer's licensed immigration attorney (or your DSO, for anything still tied to F-1, STEM OPT or SEVIS).

The number on a PERM notice is a promise about your future job, and the employers worth targeting are the ones willing to make it. If you are on OPT, STEM OPT or H-1B and want a search focused on employers that sponsor the green card, not just the visa, F1Jobs can help you plan it.