No. Business participation does not itself grant current work authorization or permanent residence. Assess the spouse’s actual status and proposed activity.
Keep immigration permission separate from business effort
An eligible spouse and unmarried children under 21 may seek derivative status subject to the actual case and applicable age protection. The principal’s investment or petition approval does not automatically authorize a relative’s work. A family member’s contribution to the expansion should not be used as a substitute for the required immigration permission.
Age is measured at a statutory moment rather than at filing, and the Child Status Protection Act can subtract certain periods from a child's age in defined circumstances, which sometimes preserves eligibility for someone who passes twenty-one during processing. A derivative's eligibility is assessed at points in the process rather than continuously, and a child's position can change with the passage of time in a way a spouse's does not, which makes the calendar part of the analysis rather than an administrative afterthought.
- USCIS — EB-5 investor program
- USCIS — business and investment visa overview
- USCIS — Child Status Protection Act
- Department of State — Visa Bulletin
- USCIS — fee schedule
- Current EB-5 capital statute — 8 USC 1153(b)(5)
- EB-5 enterprise expansion — 8 CFR 204.6(h)(3); not used for obsolete capital figures
- USCIS — I-829 instructions