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SAINT-JOSEPH-DU-LAC · L-1B FIELD GUIDE

Should the previous application be copied into the L file?

Sources checked:

THE DIRECT ANSWER

Provide relevant prior records for review, while preparing an accurate account of the current L requirements and proposed duties. Do not reuse outdated statements without checking them.

Reconcile earlier and current descriptions

Explain genuine changes in employer, role or knowledge and preserve the historical facts. Differences may be legitimate, but unexplained contradictions should be assessed rather than concealed through selective copying. Where the applicant's role genuinely changed between filings through a promotion, a reorganization, or a shift in the U.S.

entity's structure, describe that change explicitly rather than leaving two duty descriptions to sit side by side unexplained. Check whether boilerplate language carried over from an earlier filing still matches the applicant's actual current responsibilities, since duty text copied for convenience can drift away from what the applicant now does without anyone noticing. Mark a superseded description as historical rather than quietly removing it from the file, because an unexplained disappearance can look like an attempt to hide an earlier claim rather than a normal update.

Confirm that any specialized-knowledge claim carried forward still reflects current, not historical, expertise, particularly where the applicant's proposed duties have shifted toward a different part of the organization's process. Ask whether the earlier filing's supporting evidence remains accurate on its own terms before relying on it again, rather than assuming approval of the prior petition validates every underlying statement.