The enterprise needs its own applicable assessment. Household finances do not automatically establish the business’s capacity.
Separate status and business evidence
A qualifying E spouse may work incident to valid status with appropriate evidence, but that benefit is not a substitute for the enterprise conditions. The dependent category is for a qualifying spouse or unmarried child under 21; each person needs valid status.
Each individual investor's own eligibility, including nationality and actual role in developing and directing the enterprise, needs to be assessed separately, even within a family-owned business. Children hold no employment authorization through dependent status, and family members may receive appointments and decisions on different dates, so avoid plans that assume everyone travels together. The principal must prove qualifying treaty-country nationality rather than permanent residence, qualifying enterprise ownership, and development and direction through at least half ownership or operational control. Children under twenty-one may live and study but never work, and because E-2 offers no direct path to permanent residence, a child who reaches twenty-one loses derivative status entirely. Keep proof of the marriage and each child's birth ready for the consular interview, and remember that E-2 gives the family no path to permanent residence on its own; if that is the goal, it should be discussed as a separate question.