Assess the actual operating history and applicable requirements. A legal formation date is not necessarily the relevant business milestone.
Build a factual chronology
Use accurate dates and evidence before relying on a new-office or established-operation characterization.
Start assembling the year-abroad and ownership evidence as soon as the deal is likely, because the petition can only be filed once the qualifying relationship actually exists and the U.S. entity is operating. A service business establishing an American operation is usually thinking in terms of two or three years, then finds after the second extension that the role has become permanent while the status has not. Qualifying employment abroad is generally measured as one continuous year within the relevant preceding three-year period, and how that is counted in an individual history is a question for counsel. Keep petition approval, visa issuance where applicable, admission and permission to begin work as separate milestones, since the business will otherwise plan around the earliest of them. Premises must be secured for a new office and capitalisation must be real; the foreign organization must be doing business, while the new U.S. office needs premises and the financial ability to commence business rather than existing operations. A new office is normally approved initially for one year, which means the operating plan must be capable of showing real progress within that period, so the premises and hiring commitments have their own lead times.