DC Circuit Reverses Decision that Fogo de Chao Chef Lacks "Specialized Knowledge"

Jameson B. Parker is an Associate in our Washington, D.C. office

On October 21, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that it was reversible error for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS"), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, to categorically discount culturally acquired knowledge when determining whether an alien applying for a nonimmigrant visa has "specialized knowledge."

An L-1B visa (a type of nonimmigrant visa) may be issued to an alien employee of a multinational company, who meets certain conditions, to allow the employee to transfer with that company and enter the United States, if the employee works "in a capacity that . . . involves specialized knowledge." 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(L). The relevant regulation defines "specialized knowledge" as "special knowledge possessed by an individual of the petitioning organization's product, service, research, equipment, techniques,