Before a project payment deadline is set. Historical financial or tax records may take longer to obtain than a gift instrument, and the source analysis can reveal additional documents the donor needs to request.
Make the evidence the first milestone
Agree on who will collect each source record, then reconcile the gift amount and planned transfer. Have counsel review the terms before execution where possible. Do not backdate a gift to fit a filing narrative.
A complete gift file supports readiness but does not shorten the government’s adjudication or determine when visas will be available. Make the donor's evidence the first milestone rather than the transfer, because the transfer takes days and the evidence can take months. Begin by asking the donor what records they hold and what they would need to request, then start the requests that depend on third parties immediately: banks, tax authorities, employers and registries all respond on their own schedules.
Establish early whether the donor is genuinely willing to produce the material, since a refusal discovered late costs the whole timetable. Where the donor is elderly or unwell, treat the collection of their records and any declaration as urgent for reasons that have nothing to do with the application's deadlines. Only once the source is documented does moving the money become the straightforward step it appears to be at the outset.