Branding does not establish the qualifying relationship or authorize U.S. work.
Review completed corporate facts
Identify the actual ownership, employment and role at the relevant time. An intended restructuring should not be presented as an event already completed.
The first clock is the beneficiary's: one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad must fall within the three years immediately preceding the petition, so a long-serving manager has flexibility, while someone recently promoted may not. A request cannot sensibly be made until the entity exists, the premises question is answered, and the applicant's qualifying foreign employment can be documented, so those are the dates that govern. The qualifying relationship must exist on the filing date, which means the U.S. entity must be owned by the petitioner and be doing business, or at least have secured premises under the new-office rules. Secure the evidence of relationship, foreign role, premises where relevant, staffing plan, and US duties before filing; then leave room for agency processing and business changes. Companies that sign customer commitments for a facility opening on a date chosen before filing usually end up renegotiating them; a director with a cross-dock waiting cannot begin managing it until the status exists.