USCIS actions come on the heels of similar regulatory nods for Texas EB-5 project last week

October 27, 2023, New York, NY – CanAm Enterprises (“CanAm”) is thrilled to announce that the first round of Form I-526E petitions for its Rhoads Industries III Project were approved this week, within just 13 months of their filing. The approvals — eight (8) thus far for the Rhoads III project — are based on investments in a “high unemployment area,” as designated by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (the “RIA”). These eight initial I-526E approvals come just days after the first ten (10) I-526E approvals were issued for CanAm’s Jefferson Energy II Project in Beaumont, Texas.

The Form I-956F for the Rhoads Industries III Project — which funded capital improvements at Rhoads Industries’ headquarters at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for the construction of critical components for the Department of Defense submarine programs — was approved on August 10th.

CanAm’s General Counsel, Walter S. Gindin, commented, “We are gratified by USCIS’s swift approvals of the Form I-526E for the Rhoads Industries III Project on the heels of the first Form I-526E approvals of our Jefferson Energy II Project just earlier this week. As I have said already, these actions really do affirm USCIS’ commitment to adjudicate post-RIA investor petitions.”

Furthermore, CanAm’s President and CEO, Tom Rosenfeld, congratulated the investors on reaching this significant milestone. “We know how important those first approvals from USCIS are to our investors. This is more true than ever given the new rules of the RIA.  I am so happy that we’ve achieved these important milestones – multiple times in one week.  We have always been committed to offering immigrant investor families best-in-class projects that we believe will meet EB-5 Program requirements,” Rosenfeld said.

Rosenfeld recently participated in the groundbreaking ceremony by Hilco Redevelopment Partners for The Bellwether District in Philadelphia, where he was joined by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and other federal, state, and city elected officials, as well as labor union representatives. The Bellwether District will transform a 1,300-acre site in Philadelphia into a multi-modal logistics facility and life sciences and innovation campus. “In partnership with experienced borrowers deeply rooted in the local community, such as Rhoads Industries and Hilco Redevelopment Partners, we are proud of how CanAm’s projects that exemplify the EB-5 program’s intended purpose of creating jobs, revitalizing properties, and serving communities,” Rosenfeld added.

About the EB-5 Program

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). The Program provides qualified foreign investors with the opportunity to earn “conditional” or temporary two-year visas in return for investing $800,000 in businesses located in Targeted Employment Areas that create at least ten full-time jobs for U.S. workers.