The investor’s spouse and sons or daughters are excluded from qualifying employees for direct EB-5 counting. A payroll entry does not remove that exclusion.
Do not confuse preservation with family eligibility
A qualifying spouse and unmarried children under 21 may seek derivative status subject to individual requirements and applicable age rules. The troubled-business analysis does not turn family employment into qualifying jobs or grant derivative residence.
A charge for preparing family records is different from establishing the principal’s qualifying capital. Keep the allocation of sale proceeds distinct from the family’s immigration choices. Prepare a separate civil-document file for the principal, spouse, and every unmarried child under 21 who may immigrate as a derivative. Form I-829 must be filed within the 90-day period immediately before the second anniversary of obtaining conditional residence to remove conditions. A child who marries before immigrating loses derivative eligibility entirely, and no later filing restores it as a derivative. Conditional permanent residence permits work and study without a separate permission for the whole family. What is not protected is delay after approval in seeking the visa, so the family must act promptly once it can.