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SAINT-LAMBERT · EB-5 FIELD GUIDE

Do the dependants' approvals have any bearing on when escrow releases?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

They may, if the actual contract makes a family member’s outcome a release or refund condition. A clause referring only to the principal’s petition should not be assumed to protect every dependent’s result. Review the definition of approval in the agreement alongside each person’s eligibility and the family’s intended immigration sequence.

Check whose decision the release clause refers to

It is worth separating pending cases from granted status. A family member with a pending case can be affected by an age change or a marriage before the case concludes; someone already granted permanent residence is not automatically stripped of it because of a birthday or a wedding. Each person is assessed for admissibility on their own facts, and there is no requirement that anyone abroad already holds a United States status.

A spouse and unmarried children under 21 may be derivatives, but age, visa availability and Child Status Protection Act questions require individual review. If one spouse is the qualifying principal, an eligible spouse may seek derivative residence; independent investor petitions would require separate qualifying investments. Money that sat briefly in a family member's account, or a cash amount with no deposit record, is where an otherwise clean file becomes unexplainable years later.