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TERRASSE-VAUDREUIL · L-1B FIELD GUIDE

What if a technical record changes after it has been translated?

Sources checked:

THE DIRECT ANSWER

Keep the versions and dates clear, and determine which document is relevant to the submission. A translation of an old version should not be labeled as matching the new one.

Update the evidence consistently

Review changes in substance as well as wording. If the underlying duties or knowledge account changed, have that addressed before relying on the earlier application narrative. Keep the original-language source and its translation together as a matched pair for every revision, rather than storing translations separately from the documents they were actually based on, especially once more than one revision has accumulated over time.

Add a short changelog to each pair noting what substantively changed between versions, so a translator or reviewer is never asked to reconcile a translation against a source it does not actually match. Confirm which version was in effect when the underlying account was prepared, since relying on the wrong version can create an inconsistency that has nothing to do with the actual facts of the underlying case. Ask the translator to flag, rather than silently resolve, any place where the source itself appears ambiguous or incomplete, since resolving it quietly can introduce an error that is hard to trace later.

Review the matched pairs together before relying on either version, so a substantive change in the underlying record is never mistaken for a translation issue or the reverse.