A recent memo to USCIS Service Center Directors from Fujie Ohata, Director of Service Center Operations was sent in order to give guidance to Citizenship and Immigration Services staff on the adjudication of L-1B petitions for aliens seeking to obtain a Chef and Specialty Cook position.  The memorandum clarifies that Chefs or Specialty Cooks generally are not considered to have “specialized knowledge” for L-1B purposes, even though they may have knowledge of a restaurant’s special recipe or food preparation techniques.

A March 9, 1994, Legacy INS policy memo provides general guidance for adjudicating specialized knowledge cases and still remains in effect.  According to that memo, in addition to demonstrating the complexity of the knowledge and the fact that the knowledge is not generally found in the industry, it is necessary to determine the extent to which the place of employment would suffer economic inconvenience or disruption to its U.S. or foreign based operations if it had to hire someone other than the particular overseas employee on whose behalf the petition was filed.  Therefore, it is necessary to consider not only how skilled the chef or cook 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 business.  In deciding whether those responsibilities constitute specialized knowledge, it would be necessary to assess the length and complexity of in-house training required to perform such duties.

The most recent memo offered guidance for adjudicating petitions for L-1B Chefs or Specialty Cooks, stating that adjudicators should assess the extent of the alien’s experience in that profession, the levels of training and education or technical expertise, whether the product is noteworthy and uncommon, or if the knowledge of the process and procedure is advanced.  Additionally, the adjudicator should determine whether the knowledge would be difficult to impart to another individual without significant economic inconvenience to the United States or foreign entity.  To qualify as “specialized knowledge,” the knowledge of the product or the process must be of the sort that is not generally found in the particular industry, although it need not be proprietary or unique.