H1B workers and their employers are confused about whether their salary meets the required wage level thresholds, leading to anxiety, potential visa denials, and compliance risks.
Users input their job title (SOC code), work location, and salary. The tool cross-references the DOL prevailing wage database in real-time, shows which wage level they qualify for, flags compliance gaps, and provides a recommended salary adjustment amount.
Freemium - free basic wage check, paid tier ($10-20/mo) for alerts on wage updates, LCA tracking, historical comparisons, and employer dashboard ($99/mo) for batch compliance checks across multiple employees
The pain is real and high-stakes: a wage compliance error can result in visa denial, RFEs, or employer fines. The Reddit thread shows genuine anxiety ('I don't want to risk this'). Workers lose sleep over this. However, it's episodic pain (peaks during filing season and job changes) rather than constant daily pain, which slightly limits intensity.
TAM is narrow. ~400K H1B petitions/year, ~600K active H1B holders, plus ~50K sponsoring employers. Even at $15/mo average, individual worker TAM is ~$108M/year. Realistic SAM (those who'd actually pay for a tool vs. asking their lawyer or Googling) is probably $5-15M. The employer dashboard at $99/mo expands it but competes with established platforms. This is a viable niche business, not a venture-scale market.
H1B workers are typically well-paid tech professionals who can afford $10-20/mo. The stakes (visa status) justify spending. However, the core value proposition (wage lookup) is available free from DOL, and many users will do a one-time check rather than subscribe monthly. The recurring value needs to come from alerts and monitoring, which is harder to sell. Employer tier at $99/mo is more compelling as a compliance/audit-readiness tool.
Very buildable as an MVP. The DOL prevailing wage data is publicly available and updated annually. Core logic is: take SOC code + location + salary → compare against wage level thresholds → show compliance status. A solo dev could build a functional MVP in 2-3 weeks. The harder parts (SOC code auto-mapping from job titles, historical data tracking) are nice-to-haves for v2. No complex infrastructure needed.
There is a clear, underserved gap. The DOL tool is clunky and provides raw data without compliance logic. H1BGrader/H1BData show historical filings but don't check compliance. Enterprise platforms are $15K+ and employer-only. Nobody is serving the individual H1B worker or small employer with a simple, affordable 'is my wage compliant?' tool with alerts. The gap is genuine and well-defined.
This is the weakest dimension. The core use case (check if salary is compliant) is a one-time lookup, not a daily tool. Recurring value requires: (1) wage update alerts when DOL refreshes data annually, (2) LCA tracking across multiple employees for employers, (3) historical comparisons over time. These are real but thin justifications for monthly billing. Many users will check once and churn. The employer tier has better retention potential but is a different sales motion entirely.
- +Clear, validated pain point with high stakes (visa denial) driving urgency
- +Obvious gap between free-but-terrible government tool and $15K+ enterprise platforms
- +Technically simple MVP - can ship in 2-3 weeks with publicly available data
- +Built-in SEO/content marketing opportunity (H1B workers actively Google wage questions)
- +Employer compliance dashboard is a natural upsell with stronger retention
- !Core lookup is a one-time action - monthly churn will be brutal without strong recurring hooks
- !Free DOL data means any developer can clone the core feature in a weekend
- !Niche market ceiling - this is a lifestyle business not a VC-backable startup
- !Regulatory changes (H1B program reform, lottery changes) could shrink or shift the market unpredictably
- !Immigration attorneys may actively discourage clients from self-service tools to protect their billable hours
- !Liability risk: if your tool gives incorrect compliance guidance and someone's visa is denied, you face potential legal exposure
The official Department of Labor tool that provides prevailing wage data by SOC code, geographic area, and wage level
Free tool that lets H1B workers look up employer-disclosed LCA salary data. Shows what companies paid for specific roles and locations based on public DOL disclosure files.
Similar to H1BGrader - surfaces publicly disclosed LCA and PERM salary data. Lets users search by employer, job title, and location.
Enterprise immigration management platform for employers. Full case lifecycle management, compliance tracking, employee portals, analytics, and HRIS integrations.
Immigration platform targeting startups and SMBs. Simplifies H1B filing, provides case tracking, and offers compliance guidance at more accessible price points than enterprise tools.
Single-page app: user enters job title (with SOC code autocomplete/lookup), work location (MSA dropdown), and offered salary. Tool instantly shows all 4 wage levels for that SOC/location, highlights which level the salary meets, flags if below Level 1 (non-compliant), and shows the dollar gap to the next level. Add email capture for 'notify me when wages update for this role/location' as the hook into paid. Skip employer dashboard, LCA tracking, and historical data for MVP. Ship in 2-3 weeks.
Free wage check (unlimited, captures email + SOC/location data) → Paid individual tier ($9/mo: wage update alerts, save multiple role/location combos, historical wage trend charts, RFE risk score) → Employer tier ($99/mo: batch check employees, compliance dashboard, exportable audit reports, API access) → Immigration attorney tier ($199/mo: client management, white-label reports). Consider one-time 'compliance report PDF' at $29 as an alternative to subscription for individual users who won't subscribe monthly.
4-8 weeks. Week 1-2: build MVP. Week 3: launch on Reddit (r/h1b, r/immigration), Blind, and immigration forums. Week 4-6: iterate based on feedback, add email capture and paid tier. First paying customers likely within 6-8 weeks of starting. SEO traffic (high-intent queries like 'H1B prevailing wage level 1 salary') could drive organic growth within 2-3 months.
- “my salary is less than wage level 1”
- “I don't want to risk this”
- “When i asked the lawyers, they said I don't have to worry”
- “how did they select Wage 1?”
- “as long as your salary meets L1 on your first day”