His wife may work anywhere once admitted in E-2 dependant status; spouses are employment-authorized incident to status. Children may attend school but may not work and lose dependant status at 21.
Dependant spouse may work; children may study only
Hypothetical example: If Dwayne's wife keeps the books for the Logan Lake shop, she can do the same for the U.S. shop or take unrelated employment. USCIS treats E-2 spouses as employment-authorized incident to status and annotates the admission record accordingly; she may still apply for an employment authorization document if a bank or employer wants one. She does not need to be Canadian to hold dependant status, though a non-Canadian spouse would need a visa appointment of her own. Their children may enrol in school and college as E-2 dependants but may not take jobs, including work at the family shop. A child who turns 21 loses dependant status and must qualify independently, for example as a student. E-2 offers no direct route to permanent residence for anyone in the family, so a long-term plan for a child approaching 21 should be discussed early rather than in the year it happens.
Hypothetical example: Leila, a Canadian investor, purchases an orchard packhouse and expects a spouse to manage seasonal hiring while a twenty-year-old child studies nearby. Before choosing the family’s timing, identify who needs work authorization, who only needs school access, and when the child may cease to qualify as a dependant. Admission records settle present status; a business plan does not. The household should also decide whether the enterprise can operate if a relative’s independent plan changes.