diff --git a/packages/transaction-controller/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/transaction-controller/CHANGELOG.md
index 5c2913b6fe..9ce2f6ff54 100644
--- a/packages/transaction-controller/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/transaction-controller/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- Add `prepareTransactionForApproval` and its request, result, sponsorship, signing, and signing-mode types to normalize transaction sponsorship and external-signing metadata from account and publication-path capabilities without mutating the input ([#10109](https://github.com/MetaMask/core/pull/10109))
+  - The helper rejects required sponsored flows when sponsorship is not opted out and no valid sponsored publication path is available
+
 ## [69.8.0]
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/packages/transaction-controller/src/index.ts b/packages/transaction-controller/src/index.ts
index b7b17038a9..9841776511 100644
--- a/packages/transaction-controller/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/transaction-controller/src/index.ts
@@ -144,6 +144,14 @@ export { hasTransactionType } from './utils/transaction-type.js';
 export { getEffectiveRecipient, getSendRecipients } from './utils/recipient.js';
 export { CHAIN_IDS } from './constants.js';
 export { HARDFORK } from './utils/prepare.js';
+export { prepareTransactionForApproval } from './utils/prepare-transaction-for-approval.js';
+export type {
+  PrepareTransactionForApprovalRequest,
+  PrepareTransactionForApprovalResult,
+  TransactionApprovalSigningFacts,
+  TransactionApprovalSigningMode,
+  TransactionApprovalSponsorshipFacts,
+} from './utils/prepare-transaction-for-approval.js';
 export { getAccountAddressRelationship } from './api/accounts-api.js';
 export type {
   GetAccountAddressRelationshipRequest,
diff --git a/packages/transaction-controller/src/utils/prepare-transaction-for-approval.test.ts b/packages/transaction-controller/src/utils/prepare-transaction-for-approval.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1fb0a3ccd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/transaction-controller/src/utils/prepare-transaction-for-approval.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+import { cloneDeep } from 'lodash';
+
+import type { TransactionMeta } from '../types.js';
+import { TransactionStatus } from '../types.js';
+import type {
+  PrepareTransactionForApprovalResult,
+  TransactionApprovalSigningMode,
+  TransactionApprovalSponsorshipFacts,
+} from './prepare-transaction-for-approval.js';
+import { prepareTransactionForApproval } from './prepare-transaction-for-approval.js';
+
+type SponsorshipFactsRow = [
+  available: boolean,
+  supported: boolean,
+  optedOut: boolean,
+  required: boolean,
+  externalSigningSupported: boolean,
+];
+
+type SuccessfulTruthTableRow = [
+  ...SponsorshipFactsRow,
+  expectedSponsorship: boolean,
+  expectedSigningMode: TransactionApprovalSigningMode,
+];
+
+const SUCCESSFUL_TRUTH_TABLE: SuccessfulTruthTableRow[] = [
+  [false, false, false, false, false, false, 'local'],
+  [false, false, false, false, true, false, 'local'],
+  [false, false, true, false, false, false, 'local'],
+  [false, false, true, false, true, false, 'local'],
+  [false, false, true, true, false, false, 'local'],
+  [false, false, true, true, true, false, 'local'],
+  [false, true, false, false, false, false, 'local'],
+  [false, true, false, false, true, false, 'local'],
+  [false, true, true, false, false, false, 'local'],
+  [false, true, true, false, true, false, 'local'],
+  [false, true, true, true, false, false, 'local'],
+  [false, true, true, true, true, false, 'local'],
+  [true, false, false, false, false, false, 'local'],
+  [true, false, false, false, true, false, 'local'],
+  [true, false, false, true, true, true, 'external'],
+  [true, false, true, false, false, false, 'local'],
+  [true, false, true, false, true, false, 'local'],
+  [true, false, true, true, false, false, 'local'],
+  [true, false, true, true, true, false, 'local'],
+  [true, true, false, false, false, true, 'local'],
+  [true, true, false, false, true, true, 'external'],
+  [true, true, false, true, false, true, 'local'],
+  [true, true, false, true, true, true, 'external'],
+  [true, true, true, false, false, false, 'local'],
+  [true, true, true, false, true, false, 'local'],
+  [true, true, true, true, false, false, 'local'],
+  [true, true, true, true, true, false, 'local'],
+];
+
+const ERROR_TRUTH_TABLE: SponsorshipFactsRow[] = [
+  [false, false, false, true, false],
+  [false, false, false, true, true],
+  [false, true, false, true, false],
+  [false, true, false, true, true],
+  [true, false, false, true, false],
+];
+
+const TRANSACTION_META: TransactionMeta = {
+  chainId: '0x1',
+  id: 'transaction-id',
+  isExternalSign: true,
+  isGasFeeSponsored: true,
+  networkClientId: 'mainnet',
+  origin: 'https://example.test',
+  selectedGasFeeToken: '0x1234',
+  status: TransactionStatus.unapproved,
+  time: 123,
+  txParams: {
+    data: '0x5678',
+    from: '0xfrom',
+    nonce: '0x1',
+    to: '0xto',
+  },
+};
+
+function prepare(
+  transactionMeta: TransactionMeta,
+  sponsorship: TransactionApprovalSponsorshipFacts,
+  externalSigningSupported: boolean,
+): PrepareTransactionForApprovalResult {
+  return prepareTransactionForApproval({
+    signing: { externalSigningSupported },
+    sponsorship,
+    transactionMeta,
+  });
+}
+
+describe('prepareTransactionForApproval', () => {
+  it.each(SUCCESSFUL_TRUTH_TABLE)(
+    'normalizes available=%s supported=%s optedOut=%s required=%s externalSigningSupported=%s',
+    (
+      available,
+      supported,
+      optedOut,
+      required,
+      externalSigningSupported,
+      expectedSponsorship,
+      expectedSigningMode,
+    ) => {
+      const result = prepare(
+        TRANSACTION_META,
+        { available, supported, optedOut, required },
+        externalSigningSupported,
+      );
+
+      expect(result).toStrictEqual({
+        decisions: {
+          signingMode: expectedSigningMode,
+          sponsorshipEnabled: expectedSponsorship,
+        },
+        transactionMeta: {
+          ...TRANSACTION_META,
+          isExternalSign: expectedSigningMode === 'external',
+          isGasFeeSponsored: expectedSponsorship,
+        },
+      });
+    },
+  );
+
+  it.each(ERROR_TRUTH_TABLE)(
+    'rejects unavailable required sponsorship with available=%s supported=%s optedOut=%s required=%s externalSigningSupported=%s',
+    (available, supported, optedOut, required, externalSigningSupported) => {
+      const prepareTransaction = (): PrepareTransactionForApprovalResult =>
+        prepare(
+          TRANSACTION_META,
+          { available, supported, optedOut, required },
+          externalSigningSupported,
+        );
+
+      expect(prepareTransaction).toThrow(
+        'Required transaction sponsorship is unavailable',
+      );
+    },
+  );
+
+  it('preserves unrelated metadata without mutating the input', () => {
+    const input = cloneDeep(TRANSACTION_META);
+    const inputBeforePreparation = cloneDeep(input);
+
+    const result = prepare(
+      input,
+      {
+        available: true,
+        supported: false,
+        optedOut: false,
+        required: false,
+      },
+      false,
+    );
+
+    expect(input).toStrictEqual(inputBeforePreparation);
+    expect(result.transactionMeta).not.toBe(input);
+    expect(result.transactionMeta).toMatchObject({
+      origin: input.origin,
+      selectedGasFeeToken: input.selectedGasFeeToken,
+      txParams: input.txParams,
+    });
+    expect(result.transactionMeta.isGasFeeSponsored).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.transactionMeta.isExternalSign).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('is idempotent', () => {
+    const request = {
+      signing: { externalSigningSupported: true },
+      sponsorship: {
+        available: true,
+        supported: true,
+        optedOut: false,
+        required: false,
+      },
+      transactionMeta: TRANSACTION_META,
+    };
+    const firstResult = prepareTransactionForApproval(request);
+    const secondResult = prepareTransactionForApproval({
+      ...request,
+      transactionMeta: firstResult.transactionMeta,
+    });
+
+    expect(secondResult).toStrictEqual(firstResult);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/transaction-controller/src/utils/prepare-transaction-for-approval.ts b/packages/transaction-controller/src/utils/prepare-transaction-for-approval.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b07bd10852
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/transaction-controller/src/utils/prepare-transaction-for-approval.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+import type { TransactionMeta } from '../types.js';
+
+/** Facts that determine whether sponsorship is retained at approval time. */
+export type TransactionApprovalSponsorshipFacts = {
+  /** Whether simulation or the caller reports sponsorship as available. */
+  available: boolean;
+
+  /** Whether the actual account and selected publication path support optional sponsorship. */
+  supported: boolean;
+
+  /** Whether the user explicitly disabled optional sponsorship. */
+  optedOut: boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * Whether the product transaction requires a sponsored publication path and
+   * therefore cannot safely fall back to unsponsored publication.
+   */
+  required: boolean;
+};
+
+/** Facts that determine how the approved transaction is signed. */
+export type TransactionApprovalSigningFacts = {
+  /** Whether the selected sponsored publication path signs outside local keyring signing. */
+  externalSigningSupported: boolean;
+};
+
+/** Input for preparing transaction metadata immediately before approval. */
+export type PrepareTransactionForApprovalRequest = {
+  /** Transaction metadata to prepare. This object is not mutated. */
+  transactionMeta: TransactionMeta;
+
+  /** Sponsorship facts determined by simulation and the client integration. */
+  sponsorship: TransactionApprovalSponsorshipFacts;
+
+  /** Signing facts for the selected publication path. */
+  signing: TransactionApprovalSigningFacts;
+};
+
+/** The signing mode selected for the prepared transaction. */
+export type TransactionApprovalSigningMode = 'local' | 'external';
+
+/** Output from preparing transaction metadata for approval. */
+export type PrepareTransactionForApprovalResult = {
+  /** A copy of the transaction metadata containing the normalized fields. */
+  transactionMeta: TransactionMeta;
+
+  /** Explicit decisions made from the supplied facts. */
+  decisions: {
+    /** Whether sponsorship is retained. */
+    sponsorshipEnabled: boolean;
+
+    /** Whether Core should sign locally or defer signing to the publication path. */
+    signingMode: TransactionApprovalSigningMode;
+  };
+};
+
+/**
+ * Normalize the execution-sensitive sponsorship and signing metadata used when
+ * approving a transaction.
+ *
+ * `isExternalSign` describes the selected publication path, rather than the
+ * account alone: when true, TransactionController skips local keyring signing.
+ * A supported sponsored path may still use local signing (for example, a Smart
+ * Transaction path), so sponsorship does not imply external signing.
+ *
+ * Sponsorship availability is supplied by the caller, typically from the most
+ * recent simulation. Product integrations also supply `required` explicitly;
+ * it is not inferred from transaction type. A required flow can override the
+ * optional-support result only when its external publication path is available.
+ * If a required path is unavailable, preparation throws rather than risk
+ * publishing a semantically invalid parent transaction. Explicit user opt-out
+ * is always authoritative and deliberately selects unsponsored local signing.
+ *
+ * Gas-fee-token selection is intentionally outside this helper.
+ * `checkGasFeeTokenBeforePublish` remains authoritative for final native-balance
+ * validation, refreshing token quotes, clearing or retaining the selected fee
+ * token, removing the nonce, and selecting external signing at publication.
+ *
+ * @param request - Transaction metadata and normalized preparation facts.
+ * @param request.signing - Signing facts for the selected publication path.
+ * @param request.sponsorship - Sponsorship facts determined by the caller.
+ * @param request.transactionMeta - Transaction metadata to prepare.
+ * @returns Prepared transaction metadata and the resulting decisions.
+ * @throws If sponsorship is required but no sponsored publication path is available.
+ */
+export function prepareTransactionForApproval({
+  signing,
+  sponsorship,
+  transactionMeta,
+}: PrepareTransactionForApprovalRequest): PrepareTransactionForApprovalResult {
+  const sponsorshipEnabled =
+    sponsorship.available &&
+    !sponsorship.optedOut &&
+    (sponsorship.supported ||
+      (sponsorship.required && signing.externalSigningSupported));
+
+  if (sponsorship.required && !sponsorship.optedOut && !sponsorshipEnabled) {
+    throw new Error('Required transaction sponsorship is unavailable');
+  }
+
+  const signingMode: TransactionApprovalSigningMode =
+    sponsorshipEnabled && signing.externalSigningSupported
+      ? 'external'
+      : 'local';
+
+  return {
+    decisions: {
+      signingMode,
+      sponsorshipEnabled,
+    },
+    transactionMeta: {
+      ...transactionMeta,
+      isExternalSign: signingMode === 'external',
+      isGasFeeSponsored: sponsorshipEnabled,
+    },
+  };
+}