No. L-1B has no labour-market or cost test; the question is whether the employee has specialized knowledge and the U.S. role needs it. Cost comparisons can be included as context, but they do not substitute for evidence of the knowledge itself.
There is no cheaper-worker test in L-1B
Employers sometimes assume they must prove that no U.S. worker could be found or that training a local hire would be prohibitively expensive. That is not the standard. The regulations ask whether the beneficiary possesses specialized knowledge of the petitioner's product, process or procedures and whether the position requires it. Evidence that it would take a year to train an outside technician is helpful because it shows the knowledge is not readily acquired, but it works as proof of specialization, not as a cost justification. The immigration costs themselves are the Form I-129 filing fee, the fraud-prevention fee and optional premium processing, all listed on the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055. The company's spending on the technologist's U.S. salary, per diem and vehicle is a business matter and should be reflected in the affiliate's ability to pay, which the officer may examine, rather than presented as a reason the petition should be approved.
Hypothetical example: a control-panel maker estimates the price of sending its firmware specialist by adding filing charges, flights, a customer-site vehicle and three months of accommodation. The fee schedule settles the first category; invoices and the affiliate budget settle the commercial ones. None of those expenses establishes specialized knowledge by itself. Use the first review to decide what technical evidence needs secure handling, such as a redacted code excerpt, a signed explanation from the development lead or a comparison with other technicians. A frequent weakness is a large travel budget paired with no record showing why only this employee can perform the assignment. Sequence the technical proof first, then decide whether faster processing is worth the additional government fee.