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Immigration and CultureH.R. 3466Not Yet VotedComments

SMART Act

Official title: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a skills-based immigration points system, to focus family-sponsored immigration on spouses and minor children, to eliminate the Diversity Visa Program, to set a limit on the number of refugees admitted annually to the United States, and for other purposes.

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How Congress Voted

What Happened in Congress?

Pending

Not yet voted on the floor.

Where the Bill Stands

  1. Introduced, done
  2. Committee, current stage
  3. Floor Vote, not yet
  4. Outcome, not yet

What This Bill Does

This bill modifies the U.S. immigration system, including by eliminating the diversity and employment-based visa systems, establishing a points-based system, and capping other immigration categories.

The diversity visa program, which makes visas available to individuals from countries that send fewer immigrants, is eliminated.

The bill caps annual refugee admission at 50,000. Currently, the President sets annual limits.

The bill limits the current family-sponsored immigration system by lowering the annual cap and narrowing the qualifications by, for example, lowering the age limit of qualifying children and eliminating siblings as a qualifying relationship. The bill also disqualifies noncitizen parents of adult U.S. citizens from this category and creates a new nonimmigrant visa for such parents. This visa has an initial authorization period of five years and may be extended for additional five-year periods.

The bill also eliminates the employment-based visa system and replaces it with a points-based system. Points are awarded on the basis of characteristics such as age, education, English proficiency, the salary of prospective employment, investment in and management of a new commercial enterprise, and number of dependent children. Visas are awarded to the applicants with the most points (and their immediate family members) until the annual cap is reached.

The bill also revises the H-1B visa program to award visas in order of compensation rate.

The bill also creates a visa for immigrants who invest at least $5 million into a new commercial enterprise.

Sponsors

Related Documents

Bill on Congress.govWeb Page ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Timeline

  1. Library of CongressSponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H2408)
  2. Library of CongressIntroduced in House
  3. House floor actionsReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  4. Introduced
  5. Committee

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