You should probably talk to an immigration attorney, it depends on a loooot of factors. And let me tell you first that there is no easy road. The "obvious" ans

You should probably talk to an immigration attorney, it depends on a loooot of factors. And let me tell you first that there is no easy road. The "obvious" answer would be to file for a H1B in April 2014, in order to hope to be allowed to get that contract signed in October 2014... but I guess you won't take that for an answer! :) You can base a more ambitious visa strategy on stuff like: * the outstanding stability and growth of your business (E visas, I believe) * the outstanding career and unique skills of your guy (O visas) * the existence of a stable branch of your company in your guy's country, if there's one. (L visas, I believe) * ... Whatever the road you guys take, it will cost you a lot of money, will take a loooot of lawyer time to build a convincing case, and then quite some time to get it reviewed, with no guarantee about the outcome. Who said the US immigration system was broken? Good luck!