Q & A Table of Contents
Holding On To Your Permit To Work In The United States
From: Ken, Ohio
Question: I am on my second year now as an alien worker with H1 visa (allowing me to work in the USA) and waiting for my year end review
performance and call from my contract company. I don't know if the company
thinks I did a good or bad job...but from the looks of my boss, I fear they
think I didn't do too well. I may have made mistakes here and there, I am not perfect, but I try to do my best.
Anyway, I am hoping for a raise (like $2 or more) and another H1 renewal so
I can stay in America while I prepare to get my Green Card -- permanent
resident visa. As long as I am with the contract company, my H1 visa is
valid so I am tied to them for now.
How should I approach my contract company during my negotiations?
Response: The most important way for your to prepare for your year end review is to examine your interests and those of your contract company.
From the sound of your question, retaining your H1 alien work permit status
is your highest interest. The increase in pay may be very important, but,
again, from the way you worded your question, it sounds as if that is lower
in priority.
It is likely your contract company has a variety of interests: deriving a
good work product from you (and other employees), providing good
service/products to its customers, and, ultimately making a profit by
making the best use of its money.
You need to find out several things:
1. Are you, as a specific person, different from other people the company
could hire in ways that makes you more cost effective for them?
2. If they replace you, would it cost the company time and money for
training or for down time as regards production or the delivery of products
or services to clients?
3. Are the 'mistakes' you 'may have made' relevant to your productivity?
Have they had an impact on your value to the company from a financial
perspective? Have you made 'political' mistakes within the company by
failing to win the loyalty of your boss or some team-mates? Have there
been problems between you and folks/companies with whom your company does business?
As you look at these issues, you may develop a sense of the kinds of
questions your boss should be considering as s/he reviews your performance.
It is very easy to be self-critical for some people, particularly when they
feel as if someone is looking over their shoulder.
I would recommend that, rather than opening up your conversation with your
boss with a statement like "I know I haven't been perfect, but I can do
better. . .", you should begin by indicating you have derived a variety of benefits working for the company, have accomplished a number of things (you should have a list in mind), and would like to get a sense of your boss's
assessment of your performance.
If your boss is highly critical, you may need to focus entirely on
protecting your H1 status. If your boss gives you the sense that s/he may
want to keep you, even if some changes are required, then pursuing a pay
increase is not unrealistic.
It is commonly thought that alien workers are often exploited by companies
that know of their need to maintain H1 status on the way to getting a green
card. Try to listen closely to learn whether your boss is attempting to
scare you into reducing your expectations. If s/he indicates you are
considered valuable, maybe the world is not too bleak.
Good luck with this.
Steve.
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