The proposed governance role needs its own documentation, while the spouse’s right to work depends on actual status and evidence. Naming the spouse in an agreement creates no immigration permission.
Assess ownership and work separately
A qualifying spouse in appropriate E status may work incident to status with the necessary evidence; an EAD is not universally required. Dependent children do not receive that authorization. Explain whether the spouse holds real decision rights and how they affect the principal’s development-and-direction claim instead of using a family title to conceal unresolved control.
A spouse's ability to work is a separate question from the investor's ability to operate the enterprise, and a shared business plan does not automatically create identical permissions for everyone in the household. A spouse should not direct supplier employees, approve production, negotiate orders, or perform quality checks in the United States merely because the family owns the enterprise or an E-2 application is pending. Because the category asks whether treaty-country nationals own at least half the enterprise, and whether the investor genuinely develops and directs it, shares or voting rights placed in a relative's name can move the answer to a question nobody meant to open.