A qualifying spouse in appropriate E status may work incident to that status with the required evidence, regardless of whether the spouse also holds shares. Ownership is not a substitute for the spouse’s authorization.
Document the intended role separately
Identify whether the spouse will be an owner, employee or neither and describe any planned work. An EAD is not universally necessary for a qualifying E spouse, but the actual evidence must be checked. Eligible unmarried dependent children under 21 do not receive that spouse employment permission. Keep household labour assumptions out of the operating forecast until the relevant status and practical role have been assessed.
A spouse's own employment plans and a child's schooling and age-related deadlines are separate matters from the investor's ability to operate the enterprise, and should not be assumed to be resolved by the investment itself. The principal investor must independently show treaty nationality, substantial funds irrevocably committed and at risk, a real nonmarginal business, and development and direction through at least half ownership or operational control. Household income and enterprise capacity answer different questions, and a plan that reaches non-marginality only by counting a spouse's separate earnings has not shown what it appears to show.