Senate Bill Would Replace EB Green Cards With Points System

What Happened

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has introduced a Senate version of the [Americans First Immigration Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8586/all-info), the bill first filed in the House on April 29, 2026 by Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) with Reps. Grothman, Hunt, and Nehls. [Newsweek reported](https://www.newsweek.com/new-senate-bill-seeks-major-us-green-card-shake-up-12487079) that the Senate version keeps the House framework but adds expanded immigration attestations, tougher penalties for certain employer violations, and revised transition rules for people already in the system.

The core of the bill is a rewrite of employment-based immigration. Section 5 of [H.R. 8586](https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr8586/BILLS-119hr8586ih.htm) amends INA section 203(b) — the provision that defines the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 preference categories — so that it instead allocates visas under new INA sections 204A and 220, a "Points-Based Immigrant Visa Program in the American Interest."

It is important to state clearly what this is not: the bill has not passed the House or the Senate. Nothing in it changes current law, current filing procedures, or the validity of pending petitions today.

What the Bill Text Says

From the introduced text of H.R. 8586:

• Worldwide level: 192,000 points-based visas per fiscal year, minus "the number of aliens who were never detained or who were released from detention" in the most recently concluded fiscal year despite being subject to mandatory detention — a provision that would reduce the cap based on enforcement outcomes.
• Eligibility floor: applicants need a U.S. job offer, at least 16 points under the section 220 criteria, and English proficiency in at least the fifth decile.
• Salary floor: a minimum salary generally at 200 percent of the median wage in the state of employment, or 150 percent for applicants who have received (or will soon receive) a qualifying degree from a U.S. institution.
• Point factors: salary, education, English proficiency, age, military service, and extraordinary achievement determine the score.
• Structural changes beyond employment: the bill eliminates the diversity visa lottery, narrows family-based immigration to spouses and minor children, and creates conditional permanent residence for points-based immigrants.

Who's Affected

The bill's reach across the employment-based system is broad:

• EB-1A extraordinary ability, EB-1B outstanding researchers, and EB-1C multinational managers — all currently allocated under INA 203(b)(1) — would lose their statutory categories.
• EB-2, including the National Interest Waiver, and EB-3, including Schedule A occupations, would be repealed as well; the entire 203(b) allocation is replaced.
• PERM-based EB-2 and EB-3 petitions would have no category to be approved into if the bill were enacted as written.
• Indian and Chinese nationals in multi-year EB backlogs face the greatest structural exposure: a points system with annual ranking would displace the current priority-date queue.
• Employers would face new attestations and, in the Senate version, tougher penalties for certain violations.

What Attorneys Should Know

Practice points for counseling clients about this bill:

• Legislative stage matters: the bill was referred to the House Judiciary and Education and Workforce committees and remains at the introduction stage. No committee vote, floor vote, or enactment has occurred.
• Nothing stops current filings. I-140s under EB-1, EB-2 (with or without NIW), and EB-3, PERM labor certification applications, and adjustment filings should proceed under existing law.
• If enacted, the text leaves significant transition questions: section 204A procedures and the reported Senate transition rules would govern what happens to petitions pending on the effective date, but the introduced House text does not clearly preserve them.
• The 192,000 worldwide level is nominally higher than the current 140,000 employment-based floor, but the detention offset makes the effective number variable and potentially much lower.
• Clients with cases in progress should not make drastic decisions based on a single introduced bill — but high-salary, English-proficient applicants would fare relatively well under the proposed point factors, while long-queued applicants would lose the certainty of the priority-date system.

What Applicants Should Do

For applicants and employers weighing this news:

• Keep filing. Pending or planned EB-1, EB-2 NIW, EB-2 PERM, and EB-3 cases remain fully valid under current law.
• If your priority date is current or close in the [October 2026 visa bulletin](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2026/visa-bulletin-for-october-2026.html), file now — the FY2027 reset brought EB-2 India back after months of unavailability.
• Do not pay for or act on services claiming to "convert" your case to a points system; no points system exists in U.S. law.
• Track the bill's actual legislative progress on Congress.gov rather than social media summaries — introduced bills in past Congresses with similar restructuring proposals have not advanced.