My knee-jerk reaction was to attempt to downplay some marijuana use when filling out the e-QIP. After doing some research, here and other places, discussing the situation with some others with in my professional network who have gone through this process. I have determined that this is a very bad idea.
I am curious, should I be prepared to defend why I initially thought it would be a good idea to lie? My thinking is that the answer was saved between the session where I wrote it up, and the session where I revised the section to reflect the truth. Will anyone ever see that original response?
No one here will know for certain though I doubt they will look at the “cache”. It’s possible you made a mistake and it doesn’t count before you certify the electronic form.
I doubt that they would look at it, nor that they would want to expend the time to go through old versions of responses.
Even if they did, you ended up making the right choice and that is what matters more. Most people have a knee-jerk reaction to lie about past problems. What matters is what you actually submit on the form.
Did you submit the form? If not, you have not falsified the document. So, go and edit accordingly. Regardless, they will go by the final (submitted) version.
If you submitted, then you will probably need to amend it or bring it up to an investigator at the beginning of the interview but before the investigator confronts you with it. In that case, just own it up and move forward. I wouldn’t try to defend a false information unless there was a compelling reason for it and I do not believe “knee-jerk reaction” qualifies as a compelling reason.