The spouse needs a lawful basis permitting their actual US work. A pending E-2 application does not grant dependent status or employment permission. Qualifying E spouses may be employment-authorized incident to status with the required evidence, but the household should not assume that future permission already exists.
Identify who can lawfully open the location
List the tasks needed before and after opening and who is authorized to perform them. Owning part of the business does not itself authorize operational work. Review the principal’s intended development and direction as well, rather than relying on a family arrangement that the evidence does not support.
First review identifies who will perform each opening task and whether that person has a lawful basis for the proposed US activity. The decisive records are the actual task list, the applicant's planned role, and the spouse's qualifying status evidence once obtained. Sequence the opening with authorized staff rather than relying on a future dependent permission.
Owning shares or being married to the investor does not itself permit day-to-day work. Hypothetical example: A Canadian investor in a U.S. bicycle-fitting studio expects her spouse to assemble displays while she awaits a decision.
The couple should assign those tasks to a lawfully available worker until the spouse has the status and documentation needed for employment.