Before the statement of work is signed. The supervision and site arrangements are easier to shape while terms are being negotiated, and the assessment may influence how the engagement is structured. Raising it after signature narrows the options to explaining an arrangement that is already fixed.
Match the immigration sequence to the customer's
Customers set start dates from commercial need and rarely account for preparation, filing, any required visa step, admission, and authorization to work as separate events. Give the account team a realistic sequence early so the commitment made to the customer is one the process can support. Build a contingency for the case where the engagement must begin with someone already able to work in the United States.
L-1B placement with an unaffiliated organization cannot be a labour-for-hire arrangement; the petitioner should retain control, and the work should principally involve the petitioner’s specialized knowledge rather than ordinary services directed by the customer. Confirm the qualifying corporate relationship and the generally required continuous year of full-time employment physically abroad during the relevant preceding three-year period, then reassess duties, location, supervision, and employer control. The specialized-knowledge maximum is five years in total, so a four-year assignment cannot be completed by someone who has already spent three years in the status, however well the project is going.