The published sequence places the requested gift after successful vetting. This guide provides no basis for treating an unsolicited early payment as a shortcut.
Follow the official case instruction
Ask counsel to resolve any proposal that suggests paying the larger amount first to secure a result. The applicant still needs eligibility for permanent residence, admissibility and visa availability. Having transfer capacity or offering extra money does not establish a different legal standard or guarantee approval.
Follow the official case instruction rather than a sequence someone has described, and do not assume that paying early advances anything. Processes of this kind ordinarily have a defined order in which assessment precedes payment of certain amounts, and sending money ahead of an instruction generally achieves nothing while creating a sum that may be difficult to recover. Establish what the current official materials say about the sequence and what triggers each step.
Where an adviser proposes an early payment to secure a place, a rate or priority, ask what specifically it secures, where that is stated officially, and what happens to the money if the applicant does not proceed or is found ineligible. No payment substitutes for an assessment, and none resolves a question of admissibility. Ask also what the applicant's position would be if they paid and the assessment then produced an unfavourable result, since the answer to that question tells you most of what you need to know about the proposed sequence.