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DELBURNE · L-1B FIELD GUIDE

Does a proprietary-sounding system name establish specialized knowledge?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

No. Explain the actual knowledge and its use in the proposed work. The standard does not universally require secrecy, uniqueness or proprietary ownership.

Make the claim understandable beyond the team

Identify the substance of the organizational knowledge or advanced process expertise. An internal acronym without explanation does not establish what the employee knows or why the assignment requires it.

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 file still needs a qualifying relationship between the entities, the required period of continuous qualifying employment abroad within the relevant preceding period, and special knowledge of the employer's products, services, or advanced processes that the assigned work actually uses. Specialized knowledge is not established by skill or seniority on its own: knowledge common within the industry, or that a competent professional could acquire elsewhere within a reasonable period, generally falls outside it however valuable the employer finds it.