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Do bonuses and RSU count toward the salary criterion?

Key answer

Community opinions differ: formally you compare remuneration, but the comparison must be apples to apples. If market statistics show base salaries, compare your base pay; if you have a tax form with gross income, officers look at the whole figure. The key is an identical basis on both sides of the comparison.

Community answers

The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.

  • You will be comparing salaries without benefits, which makes for a somewhat unfair comparison. I was advised to take the basic salary - the one you are using to compare with others.

  • What is indicated on your tax form is what should be compared - they look at gross income.

  • You will be comparing salaries without benefits - this results in a somewhat unfair comparison. I was advised to take the basic salary, which is the one you use to compare yourself with others.

  • What is indicated on the W-2 form is what should be compared - by the way, they look at the gross.

The answers are anonymized community experience from the public chats, not legal advice. Officers may decide similar cases differently.

Why "High remuneration" gets refused

Accepted in 14% of challenged petitions (23 of 160); not an approval rate.

The comparison source is not accepted: it needs occupation- and location-matched data, not general market surveys.

All refusal grounds and the sample

Sources

All questions on: Salary and income

Related on this site

Similar questions

A reference page built from community experience, not legal advice. Requirements and practice change - verify on uscis.gov.

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