If the affiliate has been doing business for less than a year the petition is treated as a new office and, when approved, is approved for one year initially. Extensions then depend on what the affiliate actually did with that year, so the first twelve months should be planned as evidence rather than as a grace period.
The first year is examined, not assumed
A young affiliate creates two pressures at once. It has to prove it is genuinely doing business, which means real customers, real invoices and real premises rather than a registration and a bank account. And it has to show that a specialized-knowledge role exists there, which is harder when the operation is small and everyone does everything.
Sequencing helps. Signing the first two or three farm contracts before filing gives the petition something concrete to point at. Fixing the reporting line and the offsite arrangements in writing at the same time avoids rebuilding them under a deadline.
Beyond the first year, the five-year ceiling should be mapped against the commissioning programme, since a specialist who arrives late and leaves at the limit may reach it just as the American operation becomes able to use him. Time spent outside the United States can sometimes be recaptured, so travel should be logged from the beginning.