Raise it before committing the non-refundable processing fee. Have counsel identify the disclosure obligations, records still needed and possible consequences, then revisit the advice when new facts or agency questions arise. An opinion can cover several stages, but it should not be treated as a guarantee that later evidence cannot change the assessment.
Stage-specific review beats one-time reassurance
Descriptions of the process in weeks are expectations, not commitments, and an interview appointment on a calendar is not certainty about its outcome. Plan for review points instead: before the fee, before documents go to the official portal, before the gift is transferred when instructed, and before any interview. Each of those moments changes what is on the record and therefore what advice is worth.
Identify who can respond to notices and authorize payment when the official instruction arrives. The published process calls for timely completion of requested material. Use the official sequence, not a promised start date: initial application, vetting, instructions for payment, the applicable immigrant process, and visa availability where relevant. An instruction to send the large sum ahead of that sequence does not match the published order and should stop the process rather than accelerate it.