A spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one are included as derivatives and receive conditional residence with the investor. Age is the risk: a child who reaches twenty-one during the process can fall out of the application, so birthdates should shape the filing schedule from the outset.
Count the birthdays before you count the money
This is an immigrant route, which changes the family calculus in both directions. Derivative family members obtain conditional permanent residence alongside the investor rather than a dependent work restriction, so a spouse is not barred from employment in the way a temporary category's dependants can be, and children may study. Against that, the process is long, and a household with a nineteen-year-old is running a clock that cannot be stopped by good intentions.
Statutory provisions exist that can protect certain applicants from the effects of processing delay, and their application is technical and fact-specific, so a family in that position needs advice on their own dates rather than reassurance. It is also worth deciding early who intends to live where. Conditional residence carries expectations about maintaining residence in the United States that a family splitting its life across the border should understand before filing.