Each intending immigrant needs the applicable application, civil documents, medical examination and individual eligibility review. Being listed as a derivative does not exempt a spouse or qualifying child from those steps.
Prepare one coordinated family file
Track requirements by person and identify who may have a missing document or different timing issue. Have counsel assess any child age-protection question and plans for family members travelling at different times. Avoid assuming the principal’s interview outcome automatically resolves all derivative cases.
Work rights as residents begin with the appropriate immigration status, not simply with a family’s inclusion on an approved petition. Derivative status rests on a relationship that must be evidenced by a document, and the document has to name the right people. A spouse needs a marriage record; a child needs a birth record naming the parent through whom the claim runs; an adopted or step relationship needs the order or certificate that created it, in a form the instructions accept.
Hypothetical example: an investor in heritage restoration contracting includes a stepdaughter in the family plan and holds only her original birth certificate, which names a different parent and says nothing about the later marriage. Assemble the linking records early, since obtaining a certified copy from a foreign registry can take longer than any other item in the file. Being named on an approved petition establishes intent, not eligibility.