The escrow does not itself provide US work permission.
Review the spouse’s status and activity
Qualifying E spouses may work incident to appropriate status with required evidence. Pending preparation or unpaid operations should not be treated as automatically authorized.
The dependent's ability to work lasts only while the principal holds valid status, so a job offer for the spouse is tied to the enterprise continuing to operate and to the investor maintaining the classification. A new distribution business rarely pays the family properly in its first two years, which makes the spouse's employment authorization a practical foundation rather than a footnote. Nothing about the process guarantees a decision by a given date, and the spouse's ability to work in the United States depends on the principal being approved, admitted and in valid status first. Separate the household's three exposures: the date the business can trade, the date the family must commit to or vacate housing, and the dates on which each person's status permits what. The shared limitation is the one that shapes long-term planning: E-2 is a nonimmigrant category tied to the enterprise, renewable while the business continues to qualify, but it does not itself lead to permanent residence. Eligible family members retain their own immigration requirements; E dependent children are not authorized to work by that status, and matching family approval dates are not guaranteed.