The business needs its own applicable assessment. Household income does not automatically establish the enterprise’s qualifying capacity.
Separate financial support from eligibility
A qualifying E spouse may work incident to valid status with appropriate evidence, but that benefit does not replace the business test. The dependent category is for a qualifying spouse or unmarried child under 21; each person needs valid status.
A new distribution business rarely pays the family properly in its first two years, which makes the spouse's employment authorization a practical foundation rather than a footnote. For E-2, the investor needs treaty nationality and must show a real enterprise, qualifying treaty ownership, a substantial commitment of capital exposed to commercial loss, active direction, and an enterprise that is not marginal. A visa's validity period and the admission period recorded on arrival are separate, and school registration, a lease and a spouse's employment plans should be built on the second. An eligible legally married spouse and unmarried children under 21 may qualify, but the supplier’s milestone guarantees neither admission nor a common travel date. Assess a staged relocation against the actual lease outcome, the principal’s status and the spouse’s or children’s process; no common approval date is guaranteed.