Good instinct to ask this separately — sequencing trips up more people than the actual paperwork does.
The honest, general shape of it (this varies a lot by country, so treat this as the pattern, not the plan):
- Signed contract is usually the trigger to start, not the arrival date — most sponsored visa routes need the employer to file something on their end first, and that alone can eat weeks before you even submit your part.
- Where things go wrong isn't usually the visa step itself — it's document prep: apostilles, certified translations, police clearance certificates. Those have their own lead times and are easy to underestimate.
- Your personalized checklist on the dashboard will sequence this correctly for your specific destination and nationality once you've set your arrival date, including which documents need the longest lead time first.
For the actual current processing windows and fees for your destination, use that country's Visa/Immigration section on the site rather than going off what people quote here — those numbers move, sometimes mid-year.
What's the destination, if you don't mind sharing? Happy to point you to the specific section.