Update the actual staffing and operating account rather than submit the superseded plan as current.
Recheck support for the proposed duties
The change may affect who performs routine work or whether the foreign business continues as described. Assess its real consequences instead of automatically cancelling the transfer or ignoring the departure.
Reopen the duty analysis after the replacement resigns. Identify which foreign tasks reverted to the transferee, who can assume them, whether operations continue, and whether the proposed American role remains supported. Update declarations, charts, payroll lists, schedules, and the business plan before filing; never date an obsolete arrangement as current. Timing does not relax threshold rules: the entities need a qualifying relationship, continuing foreign business and either active U.S. business or, for a new office, the ability to commence it; the transferee needs one continuous qualifying year abroad within the relevant three, and the position must be primarily managerial or executive. A new office starts under a one-year approval framework, while accumulated L-1A time is generally limited to seven years.
Hypothetical example: a North Hatley greenhouse-controls producer plans to transfer its general manager after hiring a Canadian service coordinator. When that coordinator leaves before filing, customer dispatches return to the manager’s calendar. The business should assign those calls to documented staff, recruit again and wait, or revise the proposed role. Keeping the former coordinator on the chart would misstate staffing; a short delay may produce evidence matching the work actually performed.