# Senate Bill S. 5485 Would Replace EB-1 Through EB-5 With a Points System

> Senator Tommy Tuberville introduced the Americans First Immigration Act (S. 5485) on September 23, 2026, proposing to overhaul family-sponsored immigration, replace employment-based preferences with points, and end the Diversity Visa. It is a bill, not law — but its transition provisions matter to EB-5 applicants.

- URL: https://eb5policy.com/news/americans-first-immigration-act-s5485/
- Language: en
- Category: news
- Published: 2026-10-10
- Tags: legislation, Congress, points system, EB-5, family immigration

On September 23, 2026, Senator Tommy Tuberville introduced the **Americans First Immigration Act (S. 5485)** in the Senate, where it has been referred to the Judiciary Committee. The bill proposes sweeping changes to family-sponsored immigration, employment-based green cards, and the Diversity Visa lottery.

**First, the essential point: this is a bill, not current law.** Every existing category and filing rule remains in force while Congress considers it.

## What the bill proposes

| Pathway | Proposal |
| --- | --- |
| Family sponsorship | Remove parents of U.S. citizens from the immediate-relative category and eliminate several categories for adult children and siblings; sponsorship would focus on spouses and qualifying children |
| Employment-based | Replace the current preference categories — EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, and EB-5 — with a points-based system weighing education, English proficiency, compensation, and achievement; a qualifying U.S. job offer would generally be required |
| Diversity Visa | Eliminate the Diversity Visa program (the "green card lottery") |

Section 5 of the introduced text sets out the points-based replacement for the employment-based categories. For investor families the notable detail is that **the bill does not carve out EB-5 as an exception**.

## What would happen to existing cases (per the bill text)

The transition provisions distinguish between *pending* petitions and *approved* petitions whose beneficiaries are still waiting for visas:

- If enacted as written, certain family petitions still pending on the effective date could no longer be approved.
- The bill sets a later effective date for replacing the employment-based categories; EB-1 through EB-5 petitions still pending on that date would face the same restriction.
- Some beneficiaries with petitions approved before the relevant date could receive visas under limited transitional allocations.
- **An approved petition would not, by itself, guarantee a visa under the proposal.**

This distinction is especially relevant to applicants in long backlogs — for EB-5, that means China-born investors with approved I-526E petitions still waiting for Chart A.

## What applicants should do now

- Keep preparing and advancing cases under **current law**. Confirm petition status, visa availability, and next filing steps with counsel.
- Do not assume that filing or securing an approval now guarantees protection from a future law; the bill text offers no such guarantee.
- For families evaluating EB-5, source-of-funds preparation and project due diligence remain worthwhile regardless of the bill's fate.

We will continue tracking S. 5485 and its transition provisions.

Further reading: [A History of EB-5](/policy/eb5-history-timeline/) · [Regional Center Reauthorization in 2027](/policy/rc-reauthorization-2027/)

## Sources

- U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), S. 5485 introduced bill record
- ARCFE, "Americans First Immigration Act (S. 5485): What Green Card Applicants Should Know" (October 10, 2026)