sustained L-1B Case: Software Engineering

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 5629416 
Appeal of California Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date : NOV. 21, 2019 
Form I-129, Petition for L-lB Specialized Knowledge Worker 
The Petitioner operates a video-on-demand streaming platform and seeks to temporarily employ the 
Beneficiary as a "Senior Backend Engineer" under the L-lB nonimmigrant classification for 
intracompany transferees. Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 101(a)(15)(L), 8 U.S.C. 
§ 1101(a)(15)(L). The L-lB classification allows a corporation or other legal entity (including its 
affiliate or subsidiary) to transfer a qualifying foreign employee with "specialized knowledge" to work 
temporarily in the United States. 
The Director of the California Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner did 
not establish that the Beneficiary: possesses specialized knowledge; was employed abroad as a 
manager, executive, or in a position involving specialized knowledge; and would be employed in the 
United States in a specialized knowledge capacity. 
On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that the Director ignored probative evidence of the Beneficiary's 
eligibility and imposed a higher standard than the requisite preponderance of the evidence standard. 
In these proceedings, it is the Petitioner's burden to establish eligibility for the requested benefit. In 
visa petition proceedings, it is the petitioner's burden to establish eligibility for the immigration benefit 
sought. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361. Upon de nova review, we will sustain the appeal. 
A beneficiary is considered to be serving in a capacity involving specialized knowledge with respect to a 
company if the beneficiary has 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. 
Section 214(c)(2)(B) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1184(c)(2)(B). 
The Beneficiary has been employed by the Petitioner's foreign subsidiary as a senior backend engineer 
for more than one year. The Petitioner provided evidence that it uses proprietary, custom-built software 
for analytics and machine learning which make its technology infrastructure distinct from that of its 
competitors in the streaming video industry. While the Director noted that the Beneficiary is required to 
use various third-party software and tools to perform his duties, the Petitioner explained that he also 
requires a deep understanding of the company's backend, frontend, and infrastructure, and how these 
aspects of the system interact with all of the platforms on which users stream its content. Further, the 
Petitioner explained that, while the Beneficiary has been with the company for less than two years, they 
hired him specifically because they required an experienced engineer with his specific skillset to assist 
with redeveloping the backend of its cloud-based systems. In this regard, the record shows that, after a 
period of advanced one-on-one training with the company's top technical staff: the Beneficiary was 
charged with rebuilding the Petitioner's entire backend application programming interface (APn. The 
record reflects that he also developed a clustering technique to scale-out the platform's processing 
capabilities and a next-generation processing pipeline to greatly improve the stability and efficiency of 
the Petitioner's systems. The Petitioner states that, as a result of these assignments, the Beneficiary 
possesses specialized knowledge of its streaming infrastructure that is not generally found outside the 
organization or even within it. 
The Petitioner has submitted detailed, consistent, and credible descriptions of the Beneficiary's training 
and experience which show how he gained specialized knowledge in these areas which could not be 
readily transferred to another employee in the Petitioner's industry, is distinct in comparison to that 
possessed by other backend engineers within the foreign company, and is advanced compared to that 
possessed by the Petitioner's current U.S.-based engineers. The Petitioner has also explained and 
documented the Beneficiary's special assignments as described above, and has submitted both internal 
emails and other communications authored by the Beneficiary in support of its claim that he is considered 
a key subject matter expert on cloud infrastructure questions and issues within the company. Further, the 
record sufficiently demonstrates that the proposed position in the United States requires an employee 
who possesses the Beneficiary's specialized knowledge. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
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