They can clarify commercial responsibility, but a cost-sharing agreement does not make the underlying jobs jointly authorized.
Separate payment arrangements from eligibility
Identify which current government charges and professional services relate to each proposed step. Ask who will supply and pay for employment records or credential work without treating duplicate payments as necessary automatically. Keep travel and family expenses outside a narrow filing estimate; the allocation of costs cannot cure a nonqualifying second role.
Expect legal review time for two agreements rather than one, possible credential evaluation or translation depending on where the degrees were earned, and the usual costs of the chosen route. Seeking admission at a port of entry concentrates spending in preparation and travel; an employer petition on Form I-129 adds filing steps the employer handles and, generally, more counsel time before anything is submitted. The private costs are the same either way: certified translations of the diploma and transcript, a credential evaluation if the degree is foreign, and any advisory fee for preparing the letter and package. Ask the employer in writing, before the trip, who carries each of those costs and whether the travel is being requested by the company or merely permitted — the answer often changes once it has to be written down.