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MIRABEL · L-1B FIELD GUIDE

Does a formal start date determine when activity counts as work?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

The actual activity and circumstances need assessment. An internal label does not establish immigration permission for tasks performed in the United States.

Describe the task rather than rename it

Identify what the applicant would produce, who directs it and where it occurs. Do not assume onboarding or unpaid preparation is automatically permissible as a visitor. The appropriate status analysis follows the facts.

Describe relevant product constraints or internal methods and the employee’s experience applying them. Assess the actual company knowledge and its level rather than the standard’s public status alone. The knowledge must be special or advanced in relation to the petitioning company's own products, processes, equipment or procedures rather than in relation to the industry generally. Merely saying the process is undocumented does not establish special or advanced knowledge, just as ordinary installation experience is not automatically sufficient. General competence in anaerobic digestion, however deep, belongs to the industry rather than to the company, and industry expertise does not support this classification. The organizations must have a qualifying relationship and satisfy the business-activity rules applicable to the petition type; an initial new office need not already have U.S. operations, while the worker needs one continuous qualifying year abroad within the previous three.