The business preference does not establish the relevant employment period. Reconstruct the individual chronology and assess the actual filing and start dates.
Check employment and operation facts together
Record continuous qualifying employment abroad within the relevant three-year period and explain any changes or interruptions. Identify the U.S. duties from the intended start, not only after activity increases. Do not assume a convenient calendar window cures a missing qualifying period or guarantees approval before the next busy phase.
The second block is preparation and filing: the business plan, the organization chart with hiring dates, the ownership chain, and the petition itself, with premium processing available if the company wants a faster decision. Share registers, payroll reconstruction and an honest organisation chart often take longer to produce than the petition takes to prepare, and the qualifying year abroad must already be complete before the petition is filed. A new office receives only one year initially and, at filing, must show sufficient premises and financial ability to remunerate the beneficiary and commence doing business; evidence at the next stage should show how the operation came to support the position. If the four-month secondment falls in the middle of the only candidate period, options include waiting until a fresh twelve months accumulate in Canada or documenting that the secondment was intermittent business travel rather than a US placement.