No. The one continuous year in a qualifying capacity must be complete when the petition is filed, not when it is decided. Filing two months early risks a denial on that ground alone and does not preserve the earlier filing date for anything useful.
The year is measured at filing
The regulation requires that within the three years preceding the time of the application the beneficiary has been employed abroad continuously for one year by a qualifying organization. That clock is read on the day the petition is filed. Hypothetical example: the Kent dealer's service manager was promoted ten months ago, and the U.S. branch's lease begins next month. The company can sign the lease, incorporate the branch, and prepare every exhibit, but it should hold the petition until the twelve-month mark and file with proof that the qualifying capacity has continued throughout. Time spent in the United States on business visits during that year does not break the period, though it is not counted toward it. Use the waiting weeks to draft the first-year plan, secure supplier and warranty agreements and open the U.S. bank account, so that the day the year completes, the petition is filed rather than started.
Hypothetical example: a manufacturer of electrical-substation parts secures a U.S. warehouse six months before its proposed manager completes the qualifying year abroad. The first review treats the lease and the employment clock as separate gates. It can finalize premises, forecast hiring and assemble evidence while waiting, but it must file only after the required year is complete. A dated chronology prevents a costly filing based on the hoped-for adjudication date.