  The time delay of a light signal which propagates in the gravitational field
of an isolated body is considered. The body can be of arbitrary but
time-independent shape and inner structure and can be in uniform rotational
motion, while the center of mass of the body is assumed to be at rest. The
gravitational field is given in the post-Newtonian scheme and in terms of the
full set of mass-multipoles and spin-multipoles of the body. The asymptotic
configuration is considered, where source and observer are located at spatial
infinity from the massive body. It is found that in this asymptotic limit the
higher multipole terms of time delay are related to the higher multipole terms
of total light deflection. Furthermore, it is shown that the gauge terms vanish
in this asymptotic configuration. In case of an axisymmetric body in uniform
rotational motion, the higher multipole terms of time delay can be expressed in
terms of Chebyshev polynomials. This fact allows one to determine the upper
limits of the time delay for higher multipoles. These upper limits represent a
criterion to identify those multipoles which contribute significantly to the
time delay for a given accuracy of time measurements. It is found that the
first mass-multipoles with $l \le 8$ and the first spin-multipoles with $l \le
3$ are sufficient for an accuracy on the femto-second scale of accuracy in time
measurements.
