An ownership interest alone does not choose between an independent investor application and an accompanying-spouse proposal. Identify who would be the principal, the actual nationality and control arrangements, and the status each person intends to seek.
Compare the two proposed roles before preparing forms
Ask whether the spouse will be assessed as a principal developing and directing the enterprise or as a qualifying dependent. If a separate principal application is proposed, its E-2 conditions need their own evidence; the share register is not a completed eligibility determination. An eligible E spouse may work incident to valid status with appropriate documentation. Dependent eligibility concerns a spouse or unmarried child under 21, and the spousal work benefit does not extend to children. Record the decision explicitly so transaction documents and immigration forms do not describe inconsistent roles.
Children under 21 may attend school at any level but may not work; a teenager who helps on job sites or in the office of the family company is working without authorization, which can affect the whole family's status. The specific failure worth naming is a relative who begins working in the enterprise because the family owns it, without authorization of their own — a problem created by ownership being mistaken for permission.