An eligible derivative spouse or child does not make a separate principal investment merely because they accompany the investor. Each family member’s eligibility still needs review.
Separate the principal allocation from the household
Record relationships, birth dates and marital status. Immigrant child-age protection can depend on case-specific statutory calculations and timing; it is not a universal freeze at the first payment. A second independent principal investor has a separate investment and job requirement, unlike an eligible derivative. Derivative eligibility generally covers a spouse and unmarried children under 21, subject to applicable CSPA protection. A family member using an immigrant visa must enter with or after the principal, not precede the principal’s immigrant entry.
A birth, a marriage, a separation, a child's changed circumstances, a dependant's own immigration history coming to light — each can alter the position, and each tends to be mentioned casually months after it happens. Keep the invested capital ring-fenced from money the family needs for school fees, housing, and ordinary costs, because a delayed exit is a financial event rather than an immigration one and does not by itself affect a derivative case.