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PELHAM · EB-5 FIELD GUIDE

Can a project adviser decide which relatives qualify as derivatives?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

The project’s family worksheet does not determine derivative eligibility. An accompanying spouse or unmarried child under 21 needs the applicable immigration assessment, including any CSPA age calculation; eligible derivatives do not each become a principal investor.

Ask who assessed the relationship and age evidence

A subscription package may request names merely for account administration. Confirm whether anyone has actually reviewed civil records, marital status and the relevant petition and visa-availability dates. A project representative’s inclusion of a name is not an immigration determination. If a school term drives the proposed move, give that date to the immigration reviewer as a planning constraint. It does not freeze age or establish admissibility. In immigrant-visa processing, the principal must enter before or together with derivative relatives; a household booking cannot reverse that order.

A child who is nineteen when the plan begins may be older than the limit by the time it concludes, and the way age is calculated in immigrant categories is technical enough to warrant an early, specific answer rather than a general reassurance. Record each family member's country of birth as well, since chargeability generally follows birthplace rather than residence or passport, and relatives do not necessarily share the same one.