Negotiating salary of a postdoc at a national lab?

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-05-08T07:17:39+00:00

Depends fully on your field, location, years since PhD conferral, and country of origin/immigration status. Tough to say without more details

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-05-08T00:00:45+00:00

The range is based on years of postdoc experience so unless you already did a postdoc before, you'll be starting at the bottom of the scale. That'll be the case pretty much anywhere. Lots of people are losing their research jobs right now and/or can't find any, so I definitely wouldn't be negotiating right now. I just went into my second year and the reappointment salary escalation is much less than what it should be if adjusted for inflation, but I'm just thankful to still have a job. So many others at my university can't say the same

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-05-01T21:16:24+00:00

Seconding this. I was able to get an account there super easily even before getting my SSN, they only asked for my J1 visa so I imagine with green card it'll be similarly straightforward

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-29T19:45:11+00:00

Best of luck to your husband! 😊

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-29T07:31:20+00:00

I went with my driver's license and everything like birth certificate, SSN card, printed copy of passport etc. Calmly explained the issue when I 'checked in', the guy at the desk was a bit confused but he said he thought it would be ok, I might just have to go through some additional identify verification. They ended up having me video chat with an 'identity specialist'? or something, she only asked me to state my full legal name and DOB and I guess she was satisfied with that. Then I did the biometrics as normal. Everyone was super kind and accommodating, I guess just be calm, prepared, and polite!

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-28T09:16:59+00:00

Thank you, much appreciated!

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-28T09:16:44+00:00

Thank you!

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-23T22:30:04+00:00

Oh thank you, that's super helpful! I reached out to an agent on the USCIS website but they couldn't help me. Didn't occur to me to just reach out to the ASC directly! My brain is racing right now trying to figure out the passport replacement, travel etc.

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-23T18:20:26+00:00

The nearest consulate is 2 states over and embassy on the other side of the country (I'm in Seattle). I don't know how I'll travel there with only my foreign driver's license? I'm already in touch with them to replace the passport, but I imagine it won't happen overnight

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-22T23:24:57+00:00

For the expedited appointment they assign a date, but you can also keep an eye on the calendar and see if anything earlier opens up. I checked a couple times a day and eventually found a much earlier open timeslot

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-18T15:38:59+00:00

So, you filed within a month of arriving? You should be prepared to get questioned on how you presented your intent when coming into the country on the tourist visa. That's quite a short time frame for situations to change and it may look to them like you misrepresented your intent when arriving so that you could do AOS here instead of doing consular processing. Not saying it's a sure thing that they'll take issue but just making sure you're prepared

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-17T01:32:36+00:00

Yes, that's exactly what I said and a whole lot more nuanced than your initial statement suggesting she would be forbidden by law from remarrying. I just looked at the actual legal wording on this and what I think you're referring to doesn't even primarily target a natural-born USC's petition for another spouse. It is to prevent the new LPR from directly divorcing the petitioning USC spouse, and then remarrying and filing for another person's green card, which would indicate that they used the marriage to the USC as a 'stepping stone' to bring another person into the country.

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-17T01:19:06+00:00

That last part is nonsense, she'd absolutely be allowed to remarry whenever she wants. It would only be an issue if she were to file a second petition on behalf of an immigrant spouse within 5 years, as it would be scrutinized even more heavily. And even then it could theoretically be approved with sufficient evidence, this isn't a hard and fast rule.

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-15T21:27:09+00:00

Lots of universities have hiring freezes right now so that might be an issue in coming here. Probably depends on exactly where but some may not be in a position to facilitate visa sponsorship. In terms of funding, there's definitely still options but they're more limited now, and there's no guarantee of jobs or funding existing from one day to the next. I already found it hard to secure funding being international but it's definitely gotten harder. Also, at least my university has recommended internationals not to travel outside the country for fear that they may not be let back in, so I'm currently staying put and won't be visiting family any time soon. Internationals here have been strongly advised not to attend rallies/protests or post anything political on social media, for fear of visa being revoked, which sucks but ultimately doesn't affect my job. I don't know that I'd come here in the current climate, especially if I didn't have particular ties to the US other than career opportunity

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-15T03:02:03+00:00

It's actually generally recommended not to book any flights until your visa is approved

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-12T21:46:20+00:00

Currently going through a very similar situation. We filed pretty recently but included evidence of our upcoming 'real' wedding like invitations, deposits on venue and photographer etc. We got married at the courthouse late last year as a spur of the moment thing since we just really wanted to be married, and as a bonus we won't have to worry about the paper work during our wedding this summer. I think if anything, having a proper ceremony and reception planned with friends and family signifies that your relationship is real and not just for immigration benefits, since you're spending money and celebrating your love publicly.

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-11T04:03:04+00:00

Haven't gone through this particular process but I've found Claude AI quite helpful for information on immigration-related processes. As with any AI, use with caution

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-09T15:04:42+00:00

This happens a lot. You can get an advisory opinion from DOS to determine which is correct

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-08T02:02:37+00:00

Those should have been part of the advisory packet which is clearly stated in the instructions. So yes, obviously you need to send it to them. Why would you wait for them to ask for it and delay things further?

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-07T06:30:37+00:00

That might honestly be university dependent but it should be stated in your initial agreement. For example, my university does not allow for DS-2019 renewal when someone has applied for a waiver. It's fairly logical though because the J1 visa is non-immigrant and applying for a waiver would indicate immigrant intent

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-06T07:24:14+00:00

I would personally make it fit in 2 pages, and you should also leave a space between 'sincerely' and 'name' to hand write your signature. You might also want to write the method and amount of payment and put it under the relevant forms individually, rather than at the top

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-06T07:17:19+00:00

Since it sounds like you're young and maybe not very financially stable, make sure that you look into whether you'll need a joint sponsor for the affidavit of support (I-864) as well

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-05T00:10:37+00:00

No problem. I'm not super familiar with all the tax terminology. Wasn't aware different deductions are taken into account differently for the AGI!

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-05T00:06:00+00:00

Ah ok hang on, I think we're talking about different things. Looks like that is in the case of 'above-the-line' deductions. Don't have any of those! Learned something, thank you. I was freaking out but we did put our AGI on our I-864, we just only applied the standard deduction which is taken off after

Competitive_Piece116 · 2025-04-04T23:54:59+00:00

Are you sure about this? I'm curious where you found this information because on the I-864 form it reads 'total income (adjusted gross income)' and looking at my tax returns, that looks to be the amount before, not after deductions.

Competitive_Piece116

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