Extension filings on their own cycle with charges taken from the current fee schedule, annual accounting for two entities, legal review whenever the corporate structure or the role changes, and eventually the cost of whatever succeeds the assignment when the maximum is reached.
Budget for the whole assignment, including its end
The initial petition is the visible cost and usually the smaller part of a multi-year total. Extensions recur, each with preparation, updated corporate evidence and government charges confirmed against the current published schedule, since these filings can carry more than one and some depend on employer characteristics. Accounting costs recur because both entities need statements every year.
Legal review recurs whenever ownership, structure or the role changes materially. Then there is the cost that most employers do not budget at all: what happens at the ceiling. If the intention is that the person stays permanently, an immigrant petition has its own professional cost and a timeline measured in years, and starting it late does not make it cheaper.
If the intention is that he returns, there is a replacement and handover cost instead. Naming that outcome at the beginning makes the whole budget realistic. Hypothetical example: a marine-safety training group wants to transfer its managing director to open a U.S.
division. Its first review produces a cost sheet that separates government charges, premium processing if chosen, translations, document collection, and business launch costs. The current USCIS schedule settles filing charges, while the corporate records show whether extra work is needed to document the relationship.
Management should decide who bears each cost before the petition is prepared and keep the immigration budget distinct from operational capital. The common error is quoting one filing number while ignoring the evidence gathering and first-year business costs that determine whether the role can be supported.