Treat it as a household decision separate from the investor's case. An eligible spouse and unmarried children under 21 may accompany or follow, each with their own process and eligibility; no shared date is guaranteed. If income during recovery depends on spousal earnings, confirm qualifying E spouse status and the proof of employment authorization.
Test the assumption that a spouse can earn during the restart
If the recovery budget assumes that a spouse will earn income, connect the proposed job start to lawful employment authorization. A qualifying E spouse is employment-authorized incident to valid status; an unexpired I-94 bearing E-2S is one form of evidence, subject to applicable employment-verification rules. A marriage alone does not provide that permission, and E dependent children are not authorized to work by that status.
Write the sequence down: who travels first, who stays with the child, when the household moves, and what the enterprise needs from the investor in the meantime. Review the proposed activity before treating a family member’s assistance as automatically permitted. Identify who will unpack, wire, calibrate, and test equipment, whether those tasks are productive work, and what status each family member will hold.
Map the cap table early, holder by holder, with each person’s country of citizenship beside their percentage, and confirm current treaty status on the official Department of State list rather than from memory or from a summary written years ago.