Compare each spouse’s lawful rights to the funds, ability to make the investment and intended management or policy role. Joint ownership does not automatically require a new gift. Document any consent or actual transfer needed under the applicable law, then choose the principal on the true facts and the family’s objectives.
One petitioner, derivative places, and the 22-year-old
If one spouse is the qualifying principal, an eligible spouse may seek derivative residence; independent investor petitions would require separate qualifying investments. Review any older child’s actual age-protection position rather than treating age 22 as either automatically included or automatically excluded from every pending case. Ownership of settlement proceeds does not itself establish derivative eligibility.
Compare the principal’s and derivatives’ official status documents, keeping copies of notices and entry records. The investment case separately needs capital at risk and proof of ten qualifying full-time jobs; conditional residence does not erase those requirements. At the same time, a spouse and unmarried children under 21 may generally immigrate as derivatives, subject to individual age and CSPA review. Funds that passed through a corporation, a trust or a family member need every hop documented.