Have the status history assessed before relying on a requested extension length. The review can determine whether the planned filing is viable and what additional evidence is needed, without assuming that payment buys a new full period.
Define the scope of the calculation
Ask whether professional fees include reviewing prior employers, travel and any claimed exception. Applicable government extension charges, dependent procedures and optional premium processing are separate. Verify current fees once the request is defined.
If the remaining period is limited, relocation and company staffing costs should be considered against that actual horizon rather than an assumed seven-year assignment. Budgets built on a first estimate rarely survive a change in the underlying facts, so agree in advance how a revision is approved. Hypothetical example: a landscape contracting group approves fees for a three-year assignment, and the status review then shows that only a shorter period can be requested; the same work now buys less time, and the business must decide whether to proceed, restructure the role or plan an earlier successor.
Ask counsel to quote separately for the historical review, the petition itself, dependent filings and any later extension, so a changed conclusion does not require renegotiating everything. Where a shortened horizon makes relocation uneconomic, the cheaper decision is usually the one taken before removal expenses and school fees are committed.