From investment to operation: US semiconductor mobility

The mobility question is not how many people a project needs. It is which people qualify for which role, within which corporate relationship, at each operating milestone.

Executive perspective

Build from the investment facts. New fabs, advanced packaging and materials facilities create different kinds of personnel demand.
Separate leadership from specialised knowledge. L-1A and L-1B require different evidence, even when employees join the same project.
Sequence the deployment around readiness. Corporate structure, overseas service, job design and work location matter alongside the construction schedule.

This analysis uses published company and government announcements. The proposed staffing model below is illustrative, not a report of a WG engagement, visa approval or the immigration arrangements used by the named companies. No endorsement or client relationship is implied.

Exhibit 01 / The industrial context

Three origins. A wider supply chain.

Taiwan · Leading-edge manufacturingUS$165bn

TSMC’s announced US investment plan

In March 2025, TSMC announced an intention to add US$100 billion to its existing US$65 billion plan, including additional fabs, advanced packaging and R&D. This is an announced investment plan, not a measure of spending already completed.

TSMC announcement, 4 March 2025 ↗

South Korea · Logic & memoryUS$37bn+

Samsung’s Texas investment

The December 2024 Commerce award announcement described over US$37 billion of planned investment across Samsung’s Texas operations. Separately, SK hynix’s US$3.87 billion Indiana project addresses advanced packaging and R&D for AI memory.

Commerce: Samsung, December 2024 ↗Commerce: SK hynix, December 2024 ↗

Japan · Semiconductor materialsUS$18m

Fujifilm’s Arizona capacity expansion

On 13 October 2026, Fujifilm announced a US$18 million expansion of CMP slurry production capability in Mesa, Arizona, including capacity for advanced packaging applications. Supply-chain expansion includes materials as well as fabs.

Fujifilm announcement, October 2026 ↗

Amounts describe different projects, announcement dates and scopes. They are not an additive estimate of the industry or a claim that all projects are complete.

An observable operating milestone

From announced investment
to production.

TSMC’s 2025 annual report records that its first Arizona fab entered high-volume production in the fourth quarter of 2024, with good yield. The report also discusses continued expansion of the Arizona cluster.

That is a documented industrial operating milestone. The report does not establish which employees held L-1 status, and this article does not attribute the result to a visa category or to WG.

TSMC 2025 annual report ↗

Exhibit 02 / Illustrative deployment model

One project.
Two distinct L-1 assessments.

Consider an established East Asian equipment or materials group opening a qualifying US affiliate to support semiconductor customers. Assume the relevant overseas employment and corporate relationships can be substantiated; those assumptions still require evidence.

Workstream	Potential route	Evidence that changes the assessment
US operation leadership Executive direction, budgets and responsibility for managers or an essential function.	L-1A ↗	Detailed duties, decision authority, organisation charts, staffing and a credible distinction between managing the operation and personally delivering its routine work.
Company-specific process transfer Specialised production, equipment or materials knowledge applied within the group’s US operation.	L-1B ↗	Specific knowledge, how it was acquired, its complexity or advanced level, the proposed tasks and why the documented knowledge is needed in the US role.
Customer-site installation or services Work performed at a third-party fab or other customer location.	Separate worksite review	Actual supervision and control, contracts, the nature of the service and whether an L-1B placement would amount to prohibited labour-for-hire. A customer contract is not a qualifying corporate relationship.
Local production workforce Operating roles and general technical vacancies.	Local hiring / separate route	A staffing shortage or a semiconductor job title does not establish L-1 eligibility. Assess the actual worker and employer rather than treating the project as one visa population.

L-1 classification is nationality-neutral in its core transfer test; nationality-specific issuance and admission restrictions still require review. Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are the investment origins discussed here, not special L-1 eligibility categories.

Exhibit 03 / A practical delivery sequence

Four decisions before mobilisation.

01
Validate the organisation
Document the US and overseas entities, ownership, control, business activity and the employee’s qualifying overseas service. Identify whether the US operation is a new office for L-1 purposes. A recently leased address alone does not show an operating business.
02
Design the actual roles
For leadership, explain what the executive or manager will direct and who will perform day-to-day tasks. For specialists, connect the individual’s specific knowledge to defined work packages. Use contemporaneous records rather than expanding job titles to fit a category.
03
Link filings to project dependencies
Build separate corporate and individual evidence checklists. Coordinate company readiness, petition preparation, consular steps where required and family arrangements. Keep the project plan conditional until the necessary permissions are confirmed.
04
Manage the operation after arrival
Record status expiry, duties, reporting lines and work locations. Reassess material changes, customer-site work and the approach to a new-office extension. Align immigration coordination with HR, tax, export-control and local professional reviews where relevant.

New offices need a one-year operating story.

USCIS’s new-office guidance requires premises and appropriate business evidence. For L-1A, the proposed operation must support a managerial or executive position within one year. Initial new-office approval is limited to up to one year, making execution against the business plan central to extension preparation.

USCIS documentation and new-office requirements ↗

Define success before claiming it.

For an illustrative WG engagement, useful management measures would include complete evidence before filing, explicit role ownership, transparent issue escalation and a renewal calendar. Approval rates, processing gains, jobs created and commercial returns should be reported only when actual records support them. None is invented for this scenario.

What WG Corporate can coordinate

WG can connect the business plan, employee roster, evidence collection, appropriate immigration professionals and assignment milestones within an agreed scope. The company remains responsible for accurate employment facts; authorised professionals provide regulated advice; authorities decide immigration outcomes.

Primary sources

Reviewed 21 October 2026. This original WG industry analysis is independent of the businesses cited.

Investment creates capacity.People make it operational.

Three origins. A wider supply chain.

TSMC’s announced US investment plan

Samsung’s Texas investment

Fujifilm’s Arizona capacity expansion

From announced investmentto production.

One project.Two distinct L-1 assessments.

Four decisions before mobilisation.

Validate the organisation

Design the actual roles

Link filings to project dependencies

Manage the operation after arrival