Generally yes. The maximum period in specialized-knowledge status is five years, and it attaches to the individual rather than resetting with a new employer. Time already spent in the classification is normally counted, subject to the established mechanism for accounting for periods spent physically outside the country.
Start from the record, not from the assumption
People frequently assume that changing employers wipes the slate, and equally frequently assume that any earlier assignment consumed the whole allowance. Both assumptions are guesses, and the actual figure comes from documents. Collect the approval notices and arrival records from the previous assignment and lay them against a travel history.
Then ask counsel to work out what remains. That calculation should happen before the employer is told how long the person is available for, because a business that has planned a three-year project around someone with eighteen months remaining has a problem it could have avoided. It is a contained piece of work and the answer is usually clear once the documents exist.
Hypothetical example: Tomas develops a proprietary inspection routine for recycled-rubber conveyor belts and is asked to teach it to the U.S. affiliate. A first review should identify the specific company knowledge, how he obtained it, who else has it, and why the American role needs it.
The record that settles those points is often controlled training material, process documentation and a comparison with ordinary industry practice, not praise from colleagues. Confirm the qualifying corporate relationship and the continuous foreign employment year before drafting the knowledge narrative. Cases go wrong when an employer calls advanced experience specialized knowledge without explaining what is distinctive about the employer's own methods.