Cost increases with the negotiation needed to clarify or restructure the role, and with the legal review required for a genuinely borderline classification. Ask for an estimate reflecting this specific uncertainty rather than a standard rate assuming a straightforward advisory consulting role.
Price the classification negotiation specifically
A case where the employer can quickly confirm the role is substantially advisory costs less to prepare than one requiring back-and-forth to reduce operational duties or reconsider the position's structure. Ask what the estimate assumes about how that negotiation resolves and what happens if the employer is unwilling to adjust the role. Confirm current government fees separately from this classification and preparation work.
Two further items belong in that estimate. The first is the client's time as well as the employer's, since in a consulting arrangement the description that matters often has to be confirmed by a third party who has no particular interest in the immigration question and their own approvals to navigate. Budget for that and start the request early.
The second is the cost of proceeding on a description that does not hold: a reconsidered position is not a fresh start, because the account already given forms part of the history. Hypothetical example: a consultant engaged on distribution centre automation needs the client to confirm reporting lines, the client's legal team takes five weeks to approve a two-paragraph letter, and that delay costs more in schedule than the entire professional estimate did in fees.