The investor, spouse and sons or daughters are excluded from qualifying EB-5 worker counts. Their work does not become qualifying merely because it appears on payroll.
Distinguish family status from project employment
Eligible derivatives are not additional principal investors merely because they accompany the case. Derivative eligibility concerns a spouse or unmarried child under 21, subject to any applicable CSPA calculation.
The process generally involves an investor petition, an immigrant visa or adjustment-of-status stage where available, and a later step to remove conditions on residence, and visa availability and individual circumstances affect the sequence. Have any change in the project or in family circumstances reviewed as it happens, and remember that the removal-of-conditions step is still part of the plan, so initial conditional residence is not the final evidentiary milestone. When the petition is approved, each family member processes an immigrant visa at the consulate with State Department fees and a medical examination, or files for adjustment of status inside the United States with the USCIS fee. A family with a child close to 21 should map the expected petition processing time, visa availability for the category, and the interval before consular processing or adjustment, and should be prepared for the possibility that the child needs an independent route.