IN THIS GUIDE · Offsite commissioning at customer plants without becoming labour for hire
Start with the L-1B eligibility and application overview
Specialized knowledge without a degree
L-1B has no degree requirement. What it requires is knowledge that is special or advanced relative to the company's own product, processes or procedures, and evidence that she holds it. The strongest proof here is authorship: the commissioning procedures carry her name and revision history, the training records show she taught them to other technicians and the service log shows she was called to the difficult start-ups. General membrane-plant experience that any competent technician could acquire elsewhere does not count; her knowledge of this company's control logic, its alarm hierarchy and its proprietary cleaning sequences does. Compare the employee with both the Canadian team and the U.S. recipient so the record explains rarity, practical application, and the consequence of losing that knowledge.
The offsite placement test
The petition must show that at each customer site she remains the subsidiary's employee, working under its supervision and direction, and that she is not simply supplied to the customer as labour. Commissioning the company's own equipment under the company's own procedures, with the customer's staff observing, fits that description. The petition should describe who assigns her work, who evaluates it and who could remove her from a site, and should explain that the customer purchases a commissioned system, not her time. A standing service contract that reads like staffing would undermine this and should be reviewed before filing. Where a customer site is involved, contracts and supervision records should show that the affiliate retains control and that the work is not ordinary labour for an unaffiliated client.
What to ask the U.S. subsidiary before it drafts anything
Ask whether it has its own employees who will supervise her, whether it has premises beyond a mailing address and whether customer contracts describe commissioning as part of the equipment sale. Ask, too, whether the Canadian parent will continue to employ commissioning staff, since the relationship must remain active on both sides. Ask technical leaders to identify confidential material that may be redacted and the nonconfidential explanation that will still make the evidence understandable to an adjudicator.
Duration and household
L-1B may be approved for up to three years initially and extended to a maximum of five years. Her spouse in L-2 status is employment-authorized incident to status; children under 21 may study but not work. The company files Form I-129, or she may present the petition at a port of entry as a Canadian citizen. Track earlier periods of L status and overseas travel carefully; the five-year limit changes both staffing choices and the timing of a long assignment.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.