Eligible derivatives are not separate principal investors merely because they accompany the case. Their status requirements remain individual.
Keep investor and derivative roles clear
The principal’s qualifying investment does not itself resolve every relationship, age or admission issue. Derivative eligibility concerns a spouse or unmarried child under 21, subject to any applicable CSPA calculation.
Each family member is separately admissible, and shared facts about the funds can affect several files at once, but derivative eligibility still depends on your petition standing. Write down what the family needs to know that a promoter will not volunteer: which family members are covered, what happens to the derivatives if the principal's petition is denied, and what documents each person will eventually have to produce. Derivatives receive conditional permanent residence alongside the investor, which means work authorization without any dependant restriction and a path to removing conditions with the family. The Child Status Protection Act freezes a child's age by subtracting the time the petition was pending from the age at visa availability, but it does not subtract time spent waiting for a visa number in a backlogged category. The immigration one asks who qualifies as a derivative: each family member is examined individually for admissibility, and age protection for a child is fact-specific rather than a promised outcome.