Only appropriate work authorization permits the spouse’s U.S. activity. Qualifying E spouses may work incident to valid status with suitable evidence; the purchase itself grants neither status nor permission.
Identify the spouse’s actual starting point
Check the spouse’s classification, dates and applicable spouse-designated I-94 evidence before assigning customer work. Eligible unmarried children under 21 may seek dependent status but do not receive that spouse employment authorization. The principal’s filing does not supply everyone’s status.
A household buying a business abroad usually needs certainty about income during the first trading years, and the spouse's ability to work on the basis of status rather than employer sponsorship is often decisive in that calculation. What genuinely differs is durability: an employee's status depends on continuing employment with an enterprise that continues to qualify, so a change of ownership at the employer can affect the whole household. The principal must possess treaty nationality, place lawful funds irrevocably at risk in a substantial investment, and develop and direct a qualifying treaty-owned enterprise by holding half of it or exercising operational control. The principal’s case separately requires treaty nationality for the investor and enterprise—Canadian citizenship, not permanent residence, where Canada supplies the nationality—at least 50% treaty-national ownership, and development and direction.