H4 Visa when principle H-1B applicant is on Per Diem

[Sanjay_27]

Hi, I came here 4 months back on H-1B. My company sends employees on Per-Diem model when duration of the trip is less than one year. Even though I am on H-1B, am not paid any salary. I am paid per-diem of $65. My company pays all my expenses here. Hotel, Car, Gas and Air Travel. Monthly they spend around $7500 on my expenditures.
Am planning to get my wife here. It seems, Pay-Studs are required documents for H4 visa. But, we do not have any pay-studs as I am on per-diem model. How to deal this situation? Only document that shows my per-diem is: our office Expense Management reports.

[raghvi]

Hi, I came here 4 months back on H-1B. My company sends employees on Per-Diem model when duration of the trip is less than one year. Even though I am on H-1B, am not paid any salary. I am paid per-diem of $65. My company pays all my expenses here. Hotel, Car, Gas and Air Travel. Monthly they spend around $7500 on my expenditures.
Am planning to get my wife here. It seems, Pay-Studs are required documents for H4 visa. But, we do not have any pay-studs as I am on per-diem model. How to deal this situation? Only document that shows my per-diem is: our office Expense Management reports.

The reasons company use this per-diem model is that it is non taxable. Hence they save all the taxes.

But bottom line is it is not technically legal to do so. In the long term you need to see if you really want to carry on working for such an employer.

If you have proof of Per Diem being deposited to a Forex Account or so, do ask your spouse to carry the statement of the same and hope for the best. Beyond that I dont think you can do much currently. If that doesnt work out, am afraid, you would have to shift to an employer who actually pays you a salary as per LCA.



This is my opinion not legal advice.

[Sanjay_27]

Thanks for answering my query. I am here for short term trip, will be here for another 5 months, and I need to go back to India after 5 months. I can not shift to another employer. As you say it is technically illegal to do this, what will be consequences once consulate comes to know that, I am working on per-diem. Will they black-list or add remarks to my work permit? I am worried, if this hampers my future opportunities to work in US.

They did not open any Forex account for me. My employer gave me a Axis bank Forex Card, and they refill it when I asked them to refill it as per my eligibility.

They are spending more than my LCA amount on my expenses, but there is no document showing it, except my office's expense reports. Last month they spent $7500, where as my pay as per LCA is $75000 per annum. Am paid $65 per-diem and my Indian Salary, I am still on Indian pay-rolls.

The reasons company use this per-diem model is that it is non taxable. Hence they save all the taxes.

But bottom line is it is not technically legal to do so. In the long term you need to see if you really want to carry on working for such an employer.

If you have proof of Per Diem being deposited to a Forex Account or so, do ask your spouse to carry the statement of the same and hope for the best. Beyond that I dont think you can do much currently. If that doesnt work out, am afraid, you would have to shift to an employer who actually pays you a salary as per LCA.



This is my opinion not legal advice.

[raghvi]

It doesnt matter how much they have spent on you, its whether you are getting paid according to the LCA or not.

You need to realize, the company hardly has anything to lose here, as rarely employees complain but its your immigration records which gets tarnished.

This is my opinion not legal advice.