Payroll registers, tax withholding filings, employment eligibility verification records, offer letters and time records showing hours worked. The evidence has to establish full-time employment of qualifying U.S. workers over the relevant period rather than an intention to hire.
Build the payroll record from the first hire
Direct cases are proved with ordinary employment paperwork, which means the quality of the eventual filing is decided by how the business keeps records from its first day. Time-and-attendance systems that record actual hours are considerably more useful than a spreadsheet of salaries, because the requirement is expressed in hours. Employment eligibility documentation matters because the positions must be held by qualifying U.S. workers. Where a role is filled by two people sharing it, the arrangement should be documented as such rather than reconstructed later. It is also sensible to keep a running schedule mapping each position to the business plan, so that the eventual petition is a summary of records rather than an archaeology project. A licensed adviser should confirm what the specific case requires.
Start a source-of-funds index before collecting a large unsorted folder. For every transfer, record the originating asset, supporting document, intermediary account, date, and receiving account. Separately preserve the commercial records that show capital is exposed to business risk and the employment records that support the job requirement. Conditional permanent residence makes recordkeeping after approval material, not optional. Hypothetical example: A precision-ceramics investor uses sale proceeds that passed through two family accounts. Closing statements and bank transfers, ordered chronologically, can settle the path more reliably than explanatory affidavits alone.