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AURORA · L-1B FIELD GUIDE

Must an L-1B employee have both special and advanced knowledge?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

No. USCIS permits special knowledge, advanced knowledge or both. The evidence must support the chosen basis and show that the U.S. position involves the knowledge the employee possesses.

Select a supported argument

Special knowledge calls for an explanation of distinct or uncommon knowledge compared with similarly employed industry workers. Advanced knowledge calls for a developed understanding of the organisation’s processes compared with other workers in its operations. Neither label avoids the separate requirements for qualifying foreign employment and related businesses.

Use both only if the record genuinely establishes both. Choosing one argument is generally better than asserting both weakly. Where the evidence genuinely supports each, they can be presented together, but a file that alternates between them without committing tends to read as though neither is established.

Decide by looking at what you can actually document. If the strongest material describes the company's own methods, tools or interests and how this employee applies them in a way the wider industry does not, that points to special knowledge. If the strongest material shows a progression within the organization to a level of expertise in its processes that colleagues have not reached, that points to advanced knowledge.

Keep in mind that neither argument substitutes for the other requirements: the qualifying corporate relationship and the year of qualifying employment abroad within the preceding three years must still be established.