The U.S. subsidiary pays the Form I-129 filing fee and the other charges applicable to its filing, with premium processing optional, at the amounts published in the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055. Preparing the specialized-knowledge evidence usually costs more than the filing itself.
Specialized-knowledge cases are expensive in staff hours, not in fees
Consult Form G-1055 for the current government amounts, which vary with employer size and processing choice. The real budget lines sit elsewhere. Specialized-knowledge petitions attract requests for evidence more often than most categories, so a thorough initial filing prepared by a licensed U.S.
immigration attorney is cheaper than a thin one followed by a response. Internally, somebody must extract version histories, research memoranda and training records, and that person is usually a senior researcher whose time is not cheap. If the company has never documented which employees hold comparable knowledge, producing that statement takes real work.
One piece of good news: assembled once as a reusable internal package, most of this evidence supports later transfers with modest updating. Relocation, dependants' applications and health coverage are separate.
- USCIS: L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge
- USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2 Part L, Intracompany Transferees
- Department of State: 9 FAM 402.12, L classifications
- USCIS: employment authorization for certain spouses, Policy Manual Volume 10 Part B Chapter 2
- USCIS translation requirement, 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)