Only what the actual instruction establishes should be assumed. Each eligible included spouse or unmarried child under 21 has published separate gift and processing amounts.
Match payments to applicants
Maintain person-specific records and eligibility review. A shared adviser or household budget does not waive individual requirements.
Other categories have settled family provisions, and it is tempting to carry them across: a spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one as derivatives, dependants permitted to study, work authorization available in some statuses and not others. Obtain the official birth record and the evidence required to establish the qualifying parent–child relationship; a universal requirement that every certificate name both parents should not be assumed. Program instructions recommend including a legally married spouse and unmarried children under 21 at the outset for program benefits, so the decision is best made before filing rather than after a job offer arrives. Start with official current guidance, then prepare a family chart with passports, relationship records, ages, current locations, and separate immigration histories. Derivative family members in an employment-based immigrant case ordinarily include the spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one, but the financial terms for each must be confirmed. Where the child’s age sits close to the limit or has changed during processing, have any applicable statutory age-protection rules assessed individually before anyone concludes either that the child qualifies or that they have aged out.