Every reauthorization cycle, the EB-5 industry has faced a familiar anxiety: will Congress act in time, and on what terms? The RIA’s passage in 2022 answered some of those questions decisively, delivering the most comprehensive reform in the program’s thirty-year history. But it also set a clock running toward the next inflection point: reauthorization in 2027.
In the final installment of CanAm Enterprises’ six-part webinar series, EB-5 After the RIA, CanAm COO Christine Chen, Aaron Grau, IIUSA’s Executive Director, and Lee Li, IIUSA’s Director of Policy Research and Data Analytics, to assess where the program stands and what the path to permanency looks like. Grau’s message is direct: the program has kept every promise it made in 2022, and that record of delivery is the foundation for making the case that EB-5 should be permanently authorized, not merely extended again.
The case is the strongest it has ever been, and the industry is better positioned to make it than at any point in its history.
“Promises Made, Promises Kept”: The RIA’s Report Card
When Congress passed the RIA in 2022, it came with explicit expectations. Two objectives above all others defined the legislation’s ambitions: restore integrity to a program that had suffered from fraud and mismanagement, and direct more capital to rural areas that had historically been passed over.
Three years later, Grau is confident the program has delivered on both counts.
“The message that we have is along the lines of the old campaign slogan: promises made, promises kept. The program was reauthorized in 2022 for the purposes of creating more integrity and weeding out all the bad apples. We can check that box. That has happened and it continues to happen. The other priority that Senator Grassley and others had was directing more funding to rural areas. You just articulated those numbers. We can check that box too.”
— Aaron Grau, Executive Director, IIUSA
The rural investment data, presented in Part 5 of this series, provides the quantitative backbone for that argument: $354 million in cumulative pre-RIA rural investment has grown to more than $5 billion in just three years, with 133,000 jobs created in rural communities. The integrity provisions have produced an industry that operates with greater transparency, stronger oversight, and meaningfully higher investor approval rates.
That record, Grau argues, is precisely what distinguishes the 2027 reauthorization conversation from every previous one.
The Push for Permanent Authorization
The industry’s 2027 goal is not simply another long-term reauthorization. IIUSA is pursuing permanent authorization, ending the cycle of legislative uncertainty that has shadowed EB-5 for decades.
“We were talking about the possibility of a permanent authorization back in 2022. That didn’t happen. We got a long-term reauthorization instead, which was great, but now we’re talking even more fervently about permanent authorization. It’s time for Congress to make this pilot program that’s been around for 30 years a permanent program.”
— Aaron Grau, Executive Director, IIUSA
Grau pointed to a meaningful recent precedent. The reconciliation legislation that recently passed made the Opportunity Zone program permanent, establishing a model for permanently authorizing economic development programs with demonstrated track records.
“There is now precedent for establishing permanency for economic development programs like Opportunity Zones and like EB-5. The big beautiful bill took advantage of political tailwinds and made the OZ program permanent. We are going to leverage that precedent. It’s all part of a story where, for the first time in my tenure at IIUSA, we can say: promises made, promises kept. It’s time to make this program permanent, and in fact to expand the number of visas.”
— Aaron Grau, Executive Director, IIUSA
Bipartisan Support: The Political Architecture for Permanency
One of the most significant developments in EB-5’s political standing is its growing bipartisan appeal in an era of deep polarization. Grau described how IIUSA has been tailoring its message to resonate with both parties’ core priorities.
“From a Republican perspective, this is definitely an America First program. From a Democrat perspective, there is an acknowledgement of the jobs it creates across the country. Those are the messages we’ve been taking to Capitol Hill. The Gold Card conversation has also raised awareness of investment migration broadly, and people are very aware of the benefits it brings.”
— Aaron Grau, Executive Director, IIUSA
The rural jobs data is particularly powerful in this context. Rural job creation resonates strongly with Republican members from states and districts that have historically had little connection to EB-5. Urban TEA investment in genuinely high-unemployment communities speaks to Democratic priorities around economic equity. The data from Part 5 of this series shows both constituencies what the program has actually delivered.
Chen echoed the importance of this foundation: “EB-5 has always traditionally received bipartisan support. It is an economic development tool, and it is also an immigration program for successful, largely entrepreneurial individuals who bring their talents to the United States and continue them here.”
IIUSA’s Political Action Committee: A New Tool for Reauthorization
For the first time in the program’s history, the EB-5 industry has a political action committee focused specifically on advancing the program’s interests in Washington.
“Back in 2023, IIUSA created a political action committee. That’s something that had never been brought to bear in the conversation around reauthorization. We are now able to support members of Congress and candidates for Congress who support our priorities. That trade-off is very important in Washington, DC. We have the only PAC focused on the EB-5 sector, and with all of that going in our favor, I feel very bullish about the opportunity to make this program permanent in 2027.”
— Aaron Grau, Executive Director, IIUSA
The PAC represents a meaningful shift in how the industry engages with the political process. Previous reauthorization efforts relied primarily on member education and grassroots advocacy. The PAC adds a direct mechanism for supporting Congressional allies and building the relationships that translate into legislative action.
The Road Ahead: What Stakeholders Can Do
Chen closed the webinar with a call to action for everyone in the EB-5 community. The data is compelling, the political conditions are favorable, and the advocacy infrastructure is stronger than it has ever been. What the industry now needs is broad participation.
“I will encourage everyone watching to extend the efforts of IIUSA to convene, to educate, and to share all the positives that EB-5 has done, especially since the RIA. All those boxes have been checked. We did it. The program is more predictable. It is more transparent. Benefits are being seen in areas that have not historically seen what EB-5 can bring about. Having been in EB-5 for over 20 years and having seen all its ups and downs, I can honestly say that the EB-5 program in the RIA era is better than ever.”
— Christine Chen, Chief Operating Officer, CanAm Enterprises
Practical steps stakeholders can take now include joining IIUSA, contributing project and investment data to IIUSA’s member dataset (which feeds the advocacy research Lee Li presented throughout this series), engaging in grassroots outreach to Congressional representatives, and staying engaged as the FY2027 appropriations process unfolds.
Chen and Li are also developing an interactive public map of EB-5 project locations and economic impact, designed to give legislators, journalists, and the public a direct visual tool for understanding what the program has delivered state by state.
Conclusion: The Strongest Case in Thirty Years
The EB-5 program heads into its 2027 reauthorization debate with more going for it than at any point in its history. Three decades of operating history. A reform act that has demonstrably delivered on its promises. Record rural investment and job creation. A 90%+ I-526E approval rate. A growing bipartisan coalition. And for the first time, a dedicated political action committee to support the Congressional relationships that make legislation possible.
“Promises made, promises kept” is not just a slogan. It is the factual record that the entire EB-5 community, investors, regional centers, attorneys, and advocates, has built together over the past three years. The case for permanency rests on that record, and by every measure, it is the strongest case the industry has ever been able to make.
This concludes CanAm Enterprises’ six-part EB-5 After the RIA blog series. We hope it has provided useful context and analysis as you navigate the post-RIA program. For questions about any of the topics covered in this series, or to discuss how CanAm’s current projects align with your goals, we encourage you to reach out directly.
Ready to Invest with a Regional Center That Has Helped Build America’s EB-5 Future?
CanAm Enterprises has been a committed partner in EB-5 for more than 20 years, working alongside investors, immigration attorneys, and industry advocates through every phase of the program’s evolution. As the EB-5 community heads toward reauthorization in 2027, our track record of integrity and results speaks for itself.
- 100% USCIS project approval rate across 75+ projects over 30+ years
- 15 I-956F approvals under the RIA
- $4B+ raised in EB-5 capital
- $2.5B+ returned to EB-5 investors
- 8,000+ investors globally
- 17,000+ conditional green cards and 9,300+ permanent green cards facilitated
Contact our team to discuss how CanAm’s current projects align with your immigration and investment goals.
Email: info@canamenterprises.com | Phone: +1 (212) 668-0690
About the Speakers
Christine Chen
Chief Operating Officer, CanAm Enterprises
Christine Chen serves as COO of CanAm Enterprises, one of the longest-operating regional centers in the EB-5 industry. She oversees operations and investor relations across a portfolio that has raised over $4 billion in EB-5 capital and facilitated more than 17,000 conditional green cards and over 3,000 I-829 approvals.
Aaron Grau
Executive Director, IIUSA
Aaron Grau is the Executive Director of Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the national trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program. IIUSA leads industry advocacy, education, and policy research to support continued program growth and integrity.
Lee Li
Director of Policy Research & Data Analytics, IIUSA
Lee Li is the Director of Policy Research & Data Analytics at IIUSA, where he leads the organization’s data collection and analysis efforts. His research provides the EB-5 industry with critical insights into filing trends, processing times, and program performance.
