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 · Regional Center Reauthorization in 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)