Read the general life across the border overview
A Strait Shores family involved in a business should identify why each relative appears in the documents. Being an intended immigrant, an authorized worker and a qualifying EB-5 employee are separate questions, even when the same person appears in all three discussions.
Make the employment count without relying on family labels
For every person counted toward an EB-5 proposal, identify the actual job, immigration category and relationship to the investor. The investor, spouse, sons and daughters are excluded from qualifying employees regardless of the children’s age. Do not expand that rule into a blanket exclusion of every other relative. A nonimmigrant’s permission to work also does not make that person a qualifying EB-5 employee. Keep the employment-count explanation separate from the household application list.
Check permission before allocating the family’s business work
A spouse or unmarried child under 21 may be eligible for the relevant dependent category, subject to actual requirements and applicable immigrant age protection. TD does not authorize employment. Appropriate valid E or L spouse status can permit work incident to status with the required evidence, but children do not receive that permission. If the business plan assigns a relative customer service or administrative duties, identify that person’s real authorization instead of assuming a family relationship permits the activity.
Reconcile the travel list with the payment list
A Gold Card family budget adds US$1 million and US$15,000 nonrefundable processing for every eligible included spouse or unmarried child under 21, including corporate cases. Those payments do not establish residence. Review any CSPA issue on the relevant facts and make immigrant-visa travel plans with the principal arriving before or with derivatives. A person removed from an employment projection is not automatically removed from the family case, and the reverse is also true; keep both records current.
What else is on your mind?
Is a matching job title enough for TN?Can years of experience replace a degree for TN?Can my own U.S. company employ me under TN?Can my spouse work if I hold TN status?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.
- Department of State — USMCA professionals
- USCIS — L-1A executives and managers
- Department of State — Treaty investors
- USCIS — EB-5 program
- INA 203 — Immigrant investor requirements
- Official Gold Card program
- Executive Order 14351
- Dependent classification and work distinctions — 8 CFR 214.2
- State employment immigrant visa family travel