Assess each person’s status and activities, and separately address the principal E-2 investor’s requirement to develop and direct the enterprise. A spouse’s involvement does not erase that requirement.
Describe both roles and physical locations
Record who would make decisions, where the work occurs and what status each person would hold. A qualifying E spouse may work incident to valid status with appropriate evidence, but the principal must independently meet the category. Do not assume foreign residence or a spouse’s job title resolves the investor’s intended U.S. activities.
Use a role chart separating the investor’s control from each relative’s proposed activity. Hypothetical example: a small-batch mushroom-substrate company is owned by one spouse while the other plans to negotiate supply contracts. Ownership records, actual duties, and status documents settle who may do what. Establish the investor’s nationality, funds, ownership, and direction before assigning family work. A qualifying E spouse may have employment authorization incident to valid dependent status, but that does not fill a gap in the investor’s case. Do not treat an optimistic business explanation, a later-created letter, or a family arrangement as proof of a missing eligibility fact.