The investor, spouse, sons and daughters are excluded from the qualifying employee count. Payroll alone does not change that rule.
Apply the actual eligibility criteria
Do not blanket-exclude all other relatives. Review worker status and the applicable methodology instead of counting everyone with a payment record.
Unmarried children under twenty-one may accompany the investor as derivatives, and age-protection rules can preserve eligibility for a child who turns twenty-one while the petition is pending, depending on filing and visa-availability dates. Whoever immigrates with you as a derivative — a spouse, or an unmarried child under twenty-one — is decided by age and marital status under the rules applying to the case, and each person is assessed individually for admissibility. Adding a spouse and unmarried children under 21 as derivatives creates neither another ten-job obligation nor a second capital threshold, although age and relationship evidence need individual review. Family members are identified by their relationship, evidenced by civil-status documents, and a spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one may generally be included as derivatives on that basis. Identify the principal, the spouse, and each potentially eligible unmarried child under 21 early, then compare birth, marriage, passport, and immigration records against the applicable process. Whether a child keeps derivative eligibility after turning twenty-one is fact-specific and depends on the applicable age-protection analysis rather than on a general rule, so raise it at the first consultation if any child is in their late teens.