Moved to a new JV project, lost $59K in allowances, got a $5K raise
Hey everyone, looking for some advice here.
I'm Canadian, working in Washington state on a TN visa as a field with about 4 years of experience. Company recently moved me to a new joint venture project in the same area. At my previous project I was making $88K base, $59K total for housing and travel allowance per year - total comp around $147K. Two days after I started on the new project, they told me they're cutting the housing and travel allowances because the JV won't cover them. That's $54K/year gone. They bumped my base to $93K but that's just the normal annual raise I would've gotten anyway, has nothing to do with them cutting the allowances.
On top of that, my wife is finishing up her last year in Canada and is joining me here in a couple of months. She'll be on TD status (Trade Dependent) so she can't legally work in the US. When I brought up the money issue, the company said they'd look into getting her a work visa so she can work and help cover expenses.
They sent me a letter saying the allowances will stay until they sort out her work visa, and once they do, the allowances are gone and I'm back to $93K.
I didn't ask to be moved to this project. They moved me, and now I'm the one taking the hit for it.
I haven't signed anything yet. What would you do in my situation?
Posted Feb 19, 2026, 3:53 PM UTC