If you are applying for an E-1 visa , your spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 can either apply for an E-1 visa with you or they can apply for an E-1 visa at some later time.
Applying for an E-1 Visa With You
If you are applying for an E-1 visa for the first time, your spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 can apply for a visa with you. In your E-1 application, you would submit their passports and evidence of your relationship to them (birth and marriage certificate, originals). They could then attend the appointment with you. Many consulates don’t require that children under the age of 14 attend the interview, and you could only bring your children’s passports to the Consulate (if they approve the visa, they will issue the visas to the passport). In this situation, the Consular officer would generally only be asking questions about the E-1 business and would only ask your spouse and children questions such as what they plan to do in the U.S.
Applying for an E-1 Visa After You Got the E-1 Visa
This is also an option. This would be a scenario when you already have an E-1 visa in your passport and your spouse and/or children apply for their visas after you. They would then have to submit the DS160 forms and book an appointment at a Consulate and attend the visa appointment themselves. They would need to bring their passports and evidence of their relationship to you such as marriage or birth certificates (they do need to bring the original). The officer could ask them some basic information about you or your E-1 business, such as what do you do, where is the business located and could for example ask your spouse what he/she plans to do in the U.S. Please note that your spouse cannot work in the U.S. unless he/she has a work authorization. Your spouse can only apply for the work authorization after he/she comes to the U.S. on an E-1 visa.
Does it matter what nationality my spouse and children have?
No. They can apply for an E-1 visa even if they have different nationality than you and even if their country is not an E-1 treaty country.
If my spouse and my child have different nationality, for how long will they be granted the visa?
They should be granted the E-1 visa for the same period as you were granted yours, and they should pay the reciprocity fee for E1 visa applicants for your country of nationality.
Applying for an E-1 visa if you changed status in the U.S.
This is a situation when you changed your status in the U.S. (e.g. from a B-1 to E-1) and your spouse and/or children now want to apply for an E-1 visa at a Consulate, but you were never issued an E-1 visa at a Consulate. This is allowed under the immigration regulations, but what documentation your dependents will need to submit will depend on which Consulate will they apply at. For example, some Consulates may want to see detailed documentation about the E-1 company’s trade for the last year to make sure that the business still meets the E1 visa requirements.
