How to Negotiate a Higher Salary

Question

I have been working for a company for about a year as a full time employee. I worked for the same company as a contractor for about six months.

My first year evaluation is about in few days and also my opening to negotiate a raise. I feel like I am working for a relatively low wage compared to my performance. I have been approached by several other companies with much higher wage but since my current company is processing my immigration paperworks, moving to a different company is not that easy even though the monetary difference is significant.

I am trying to find out ways to negotiate a higher salary with my current employer without providing any hint that I may leave the company soon (otherwise they will delay my immigration paperworks on which they have a lot of control over).

In this negotiation, I can’t say that I have higher offers from other companies and I have to show that I will stay with the company for years to come. This really lowers my bargaining power. My performance according to the management is stellar.

Any suggestion or ideas how to proceed in this case would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I think we have a dozen or more salary negotiation questions here on Workplace SE. The sad fact is that this company is holding a lot of cards which they can use against you: mainly, the immigration process.

At this point it's not wise to negotiate too aggressively. Better put, you could politely ask for a raise, but they know they've got you on a short leash, and they will likely not give it to you.

Go into your interview, express that you feel you're delivering at a higher level than your pay-level, and ask for a raise. Just be very polite about it. Don't threaten to leave, or mention other companies.

If you communicate with one of those potential employers, express your situation, and they're willing to take over the immigration process (if it's even possible), then you might have some leverage, but as things stand, better to play it safe.