The investor’s E-2 criteria do not disappear or change simply because a spouse was refused, but the earlier record should not be ignored. Its underlying facts may affect statements or admissibility issues relevant to either person. Identify the refusal ground and what was actually submitted, then assess the investor and the derivative spouse on their own applicable requirements.
Answer for the investor and for the spouse in separate passes
A refusal based on insufficient evidence raises different questions from a recorded finding of misrepresentation or another inadmissibility ground. Ask counsel to read the actual notice and application rather than assigning a label from memory. Neither a strong business plan nor payment of new fees erases the history. The decision on any new application remains with the responsible agency.
E-2 requires that nationals of the treaty country own at least fifty percent of the enterprise and that the applicant investor develop and direct it. The decision record is the ownership ledger and financial trail, read with the operating plan; a forecast alone cannot settle control or investment. E-2 additionally requires treaty nationality for the investor and qualifying enterprise ownership, substantial capital irrevocably committed and at risk, and a real operating business that is not marginal.