Equipment ownership and a pending application do not themselves provide US work permission.
Check the family member’s actual status
Qualifying E spouses may work incident to appropriate status with required evidence; children do not receive those spouse rights. Review the proposed activity before treating a family member’s assistance as automatically permitted.
Keep ownership, application status, and employment permission in separate columns for every family member. Until the spouse holds an appropriate work-authorized status, operating machinery, serving customers, or managing inventory in the United States may be employment even when unpaid. Properly documented E spousal status authorizes employment incident to status; E children lack that right. The principal must prove qualifying treaty-country nationality rather than permanent residence, qualifying enterprise ownership, and development and direction through at least half ownership or operational control. Funds must be lawful, substantial, irrevocably committed, and genuinely at risk in a real non-marginal enterprise. A pending application supplies none of these permissions, and E-2 does not directly lead to permanent residence. The common mistake is treating family ownership as immediate authorization to help.
Hypothetical example: A Saint-Ambroise mobile-equipment repair-shop buyer ships diagnostic machinery to the proposed US enterprise while his E-2 case is under review. His spouse plans to test tools and schedule jobs after arrival. She waits until her qualifying E spousal status is documented before performing those tasks; their child does not work in the shop. Purchase records may help prove the principal’s committed investment, but they cannot authorize the spouse during the pending stage.