Relevant employment and travel records can show different parts of the history. Explain what each date and record represents.
Reconcile rather than conceal differences
A payroll record may continue during travel, so identify the actual location and activity. Preserve authentic evidence and flag missing periods. Do not omit U.S.
visits merely because they complicate the calculation. Sort the evidence by who issues it, because that tells you what each item can prove. An employer issues payroll and assignment letters, and those speak to the employment relationship; a border authority and the passport speak to entries and exits; the applicant speaks to purpose, which no document states on its own.
Hypothetical example: an irrigation contractor's payroll runs unbroken through April while the passport shows two U.S. entries that month, and both records are correct, because the payroll was never a statement about location. Set them side by side and annotate the overlap rather than choosing whichever version is simpler.
Where a stamp is illegible or an exit is unrecorded, note the limitation beside the entry instead of filling the gap from memory. Whoever compiles the file should keep the underlying documents attached to the summary, since a reconciliation that cannot be checked against its sources invites the questions it was meant to prevent.