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CHESTERMERE · L-1B FIELD GUIDE

Can an ownership offer serve as proof of specialized knowledge?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

No. It may be part of the business context, but the knowledge, qualifying employment and proposed specialized-knowledge duties need their own evidence.

Explain why the assignment uses the knowledge

Describe the method, product or process and what the employee will do with it in the United States. Support the claim with genuine training or work records. An employer’s decision to offer shares does not demonstrate the legal knowledge standard or make an unrelated role eligible.

Begin by identifying the organization-specific subject matter: a protected process, unusual configuration method, manufacturing sequence, implementation technique, research program, or internally developed service model. The statutory definition concerns special knowledge of the petitioning organization's product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge of the organization's processes and procedures. The transferee must have been employed by the qualifying organisation abroad for one continuous year within the three years before filing, and the American and Canadian entities must stand in a parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationship with both actively doing business.