Opinion ID: 2744070
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: In 1970, Congress amended the Immigration and

Text: Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101 et seq., to create a nonimmigrant visa program for qualifying employees of multinational companies that are being transferred to the United States. See Pub. L. No. 91-225, 84 Stat. 116, 116 (1970). As amended, the Act provides that a temporary, nonimmigrant visa may be issued to an alien who, after being employed continuously by the sponsoring employer for at least one year in the three years preceding his or her application, seeks to enter the United States to continue working for that employer (or an affiliate) “in a capacity that is managerial, executive, or involves specialized knowledge[.]” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(L). 1 A visa granted to an employee whose work entails specialized knowledge is commonly referred to as an L-1B visa, while a visa for managerial or executive employees is known as an L-1A visa. The “specialized knowledge” L-1B visa is at issue in this case. The 1970 Act did not define “specialized knowledge,” and the term has been subject to varying regulatory 1 The statutory provision, in relevant part, defines a “nonimmigrant alien[]” eligible for a visa as “an alien who, within 3 years preceding the time of his application for admission into the United States, has been employed continuously for one year by a firm or corporation or other legal entity or an affiliate or subsidiary thereof and who seeks to enter the United States temporarily in order to continue to render his services to the same employer or a subsidiary or affiliate thereof in a capacity that is managerial, executive, or involves specialized knowledge[.]” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(L). 4 definitions. By 1987, the formal regulatory definition of “specialized knowledge” was “knowledge possessed by an individual whose advanced level of expertise and proprietary knowledge of the organization’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests of the employer are not readily available in the United States labor market.” 52 Fed. Reg. 5738, 5752 (Feb. 26, 1987) (codified at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(D) (1988)). In 1990, Congress displaced that regulation with its own statutory definition, providing that an employee has specialized knowledge “if the alien has a special knowledge of the company product and its application in international markets or has an advanced level of knowledge of processes and procedures of the company.” 8 U.S.C. § 1184(c)(2)(B); see also Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-649, § 206(b)(2)(B), 104 Stat. 4978, 5023. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has since promulgated a regulatory definition of “specialized knowledge” that essentially tracks the new statutory language, defining it as “special knowledge possessed by an individual 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 or expertise in the organization’s processes and procedures.” 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(D). 2 2 The Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135, abolished the Immigration and Naturalization Service and transferred its authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security and two divisions within the Department of Homeland Security: the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the 5 2. Under the current regulations, a company seeking to classify an alien as eligible for an L-1B visa must file a petition with the Secretary. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(l)(2)(i). Included with the petition must be: (ii) Evidence that the alien will be employed in [a]    specialized knowledge capacity, including a detailed description of the services to be performed[;] (iii) Evidence that the alien has at least one continuous year of full-time employment abroad with a qualifying organization within the three years preceding the filing of the petition[; and] (iv) Evidence that the alien’s prior year of employment abroad was in a position that    involved specialized knowledge and that the alien’s prior education, training, and employment qualifies him/her to perform the intended services in the United States; however, the work in the United States need not be the same work which the alien performed abroad. Id. § 214.2(l)(3). While no other regulatory definition of “specialized knowledge” has been promulgated, internal agency memoranda have provided additional guidance. Specifically, in March 1994, James Puleo, the Acting Executive Associate Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, issued a memorandum elaborating on the proper interpretation of “specialized knowledge.” The Puleo Memorandum counseled that common dictionary definitions of the key Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. See Clark v. Martinez, 543 U.S. 371, 374 n.1 (2005). 6 terms “special” and “advanced” should be used. “Special” thus signifies “surpassing the usual; distinct among others of a kind” or “distinguished by some unusual quality; uncommon; noteworthy.” Memorandum of James A. Puleo, Acting Executive Assoc. Comm’r, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Interpretation of Special Knowledge at 1 (March 9, 1994), reproduced in J.A. 42 (quoting WEBSTER’S II NEW RIVERSIDE UNIVERSITY DICTIONARY and WEBSTER’S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY). While an employee’s knowledge need not be proprietary or unique, the Puleo Memorandum explained, the knowledge must still be different or uncommon and not generally found in the particular industry. Id. Knowledge might be found to be special where, for example, “[t]he alien beneficiary has knowledge of a foreign firm’s business procedures or methods of operation” such that “the United States firm would experience a significant interruption of business in order to train a United States worker to assume those duties.” Id. at 2, J.A. 43. 3 In 2004, Fujie Ohata, the Director of Service Center Operations for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“the Service”), issued another memorandum providing guidance on whether and when chefs’ or specialty cooks’ skills would qualify as “specialized knowledge.” Memorandum of Fujie O. Ohata, Director, Service Center Operations, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Interpretation of Specialized Knowledge for Chefs and Specialty Cooks Seeking L-1B Status (Sept. 9, 2004), 3 “Advanced” knowledge, in turn, signifies “highly developed or complex; at a higher level than others” or “beyond the elementary or introductory; greatly developed beyond the initial stage.” Puleo Memorandum at 2, J.A. 43 (quoting WEBSTER’S II NEW RIVERSIDE UNIVERSITY DICTIONARY and WEBSTER’S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY). 7 reproduced in J.A. 48–51. The Ohata Memorandum advised that “Chefs or Specialty Cooks generally are not considered to have ‘specialized knowledge’ for L-1B purposes.” Id. at 1, J.A. 48. The relevant question, the Ohata Memorandum elaborated, is “not only how skilled the chef is and whether or not his or her skills are common to other chefs, but also the role the chef plays within the petitioning organization and the impact his or her services would have on the operations of the U.S.-based affiliate.” Id at 2, J.A. 49. A chef’s “ancillary” duties, such as singing in a themed restaurant, may also give rise to specialized knowledge. Id. The inquiry turns on an assessment of “the length and complexity of in-house training required to perform such duties” in order to determine “the amount of economic inconvenience, if any, the restaurant would undergo were it required to train another individual to perform the same duties.” Id. Echoing the Puleo Memorandum, Ohata stressed that, to qualify as “specialized knowledge” of the relevant product or process, the employee’s skill “must be of the sort that is not generally found in the particular industry, although it need not be proprietary or unique.” Ohata Memorandum at 2, J.A. 49. In that regard, “[r]ecipes and cooking techniques that can be learned by a chef through exposure to the recipe or cooking techniques for a brief or moderate period of time generally do not constitute specialized knowledge.” Id. at 3, J.A. 50. Ultimately, then, the petitioner’s burden is to show through probative evidence that the proposed visa beneficiary’s knowledge is “(a) uncommon or not generally shared by practitioners in the alien’s field of endeavor; (b) not easily or rapidly acquired, but is gained from significant experience or in-house training, and (c) is necessary and 8 relevant to the successful conduct of the employer’s operations.” Ohata Memorandum at 4, J.A. 51.