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SHEDIAC · L-1B FIELD GUIDE

Does the buyer’s corporate name prove all earlier employment qualifies?

Sources checked:

THE DIRECT ANSWER

No. The actual employer, dates and qualifying relationships require review under the applicable rules.

Preserve the transaction chronology

Identify when ownership changed and what happened to the employment relationship. Do not relabel earlier records as though the acquisition had already occurred.

L-1B asks whether an employee holds special knowledge of the petitioning organisation's product, service, equipment, techniques or procedures, or advanced knowledge of its processes, and whether that employee has one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad within the preceding three years. Show the company-specific context through training or project records and let counsel apply the actual legal standard — a concrete, supportable account is more persuasive than a sweeping claim of expertise. Before filing, the employer should identify the claimed body of knowledge, compare it with that of relevant colleagues or workers in the industry, and assemble specific evidence showing why it is special or advanced. 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. A hard-to-fill position, general technical experience, or an unsupported claim that someone is indispensable does not by itself establish this category, and qualifying foreign employment remains a separate requirement.