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Prevailing wage and ability to pay issues
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Many adjustment of status applicants are concerned that if they invoke their right to change jobs or employers after the I-485s have been on file for at least 180 days, the new job must pay the same as the sponsored job. This is not true. As long as the applicant remains in the "same or similar occupational classification," their rate of pay is not of great relevance.
In their December 27, 2005 policy memo, the CIS provided the following guidance to their field adjudicators:
Question 5. Should service centers or district officers use a difference in the wage offered on the approved labor certification and initial I-140, and the new employment as basis for denial in adjustment portability cases?
Answer: No. As noted above the relevant inquiry is if the new position is the same or similar occupational classification to the alien’s I-140 employment. A difference in the wage offered on the approved labor certification, initial I-140 and the new employment cannot be used as a basis of a denial. However, a substantial discrepancy between the previous and the new wage may be taken into consideration as a factor in determining if the new employment is “same or similar.”
In other words, the only relevance of a "substantial discrepancy" in the two salaries is to use as a factor in determining if the new position is in the same or similar occupational classification. Keep in mind that only if there is a "substantial discrepancy" can this issue even be taken into consideration. If there is a substantial discrepancy, then this can be taken into consideration. It is not a single dispositive factor, however.