SMARTER Act H-1B bill (H.R. 10460): what would replace the lottery

As of October 21, 2026, the SMARTER Act H-1B bill is a proposal only. H.R. 10460, introduced by Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) on September 16, 2026, would replace random H-1B selection with an order based on long-term tax revenue and let a new federal board set the annual H-1B number (H.R. 10460, introduced text, govinfo). It has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee and has had no further action (Congress.gov, H.R. 10460).

The bill is much broader than the H-1B program. It would also create a points system for employment-based green cards, repeal the per-country caps, end the Diversity Visa program, narrow family immigration to spouses and minor children, and write a "gold card" visa into statute (H.R. 10460, introduced text).

What is the SMARTER Act?

The short title is the "Securing Migration, Addressing Reform, and Talent Enhancement and Retention Act," or the "SMARTER Act" (H.R. 10460, section 1). Its official title describes it as a bill to establish a skills-based immigration points system, to focus family-sponsored immigration on spouses and minor children, and to eliminate the Diversity Visa Program (H.R. 10460, introduced text).

The Joint Economic Committee's release identifies Schweikert as the committee's chairman (JEC press release via EIN Presswire). According to an October 19, 2026 Joint Economic Committee press release, republished by EIN Presswire, the JEC estimates the bill would save the federal government about $335 billion and raise US GDP by at least $549 billion over 10 years (JEC press release via EIN Presswire). Those are the sponsor's committee estimates, not a Congressional Budget Office score, and the release does not set out the method (JEC press release via EIN Presswire).

Is the SMARTER Act H.R. 10460 or H.R. 10400?

Both. Schweikert introduced H.R. 10400, titled the SMARTER Act, on September 15, 2026 (H.R. 10400, introduced text, govinfo). He introduced H.R. 10460, with the same title, the next day (H.R. 10460, introduced text). Congress.gov lists the two as related bills, each referred to the Judiciary Committee (Congress.gov, H.R. 10400).

We compared the two texts line by line. They are almost identical. The main difference is who sets the numbers: in H.R. 10400, the H-1B limit is the number "the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics determines," while H.R. 10460 gives that job to the SMART Board (H.R. 10400, section 6(a); H.R. 10460, section 6(a)). H.R. 10460 also refers to the "Director" of USCIS where H.R. 10400 says "Commissioner" (H.R. 10460, section 5; H.R. 10400, section 5). The JEC press release links to H.R. 10460, so that is the version this post describes (JEC press release via EIN Presswire).

Sources for the table: Congress.gov, H.R. 10460, Congress.gov, H.R. 10400, 90 FR 60864.

How would SMARTER Act H-1B selection replace the lottery?

Today's statute says H-1B workers get visas "in the order in which petitions are filed" (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(3), govinfo). When USCIS receives more registrations than it projects it needs to meet the cap, it selects among them (90 FR 60864). Under the current DHS rule, each registration is entered into the selection pool one to four times depending on its wage level, with wage level IV entered four times and wage level I once (90 FR 60864). That rule took effect on February 27, 2026 (90 FR 60864). We explain it in our guide to the weighted H-1B lottery.

The SMARTER Act would add this sentence to the statute:

"In the case of petitions received on the final receipt date or in the case of petitions registered during the initial registration period, such petitions shall be considered simultaneously filed and visas or status shall be provided in the order that will most increase long-term tax revenue, including any adjustment deemed appropriate to account for applicable geographic differences." H.R. 10460, section 6(f), amending INA section 214(g)

In plain terms, randomness would go. Registrations would be ranked, and the ones projected to produce the most long-term tax revenue would be chosen first. The bill does not say how DHS would estimate long-term tax revenue or what the geographic adjustment would be (H.R. 10460, section 6(f)). In a September 29, 2026 City Journal essay, Connor O'Brien of the Institute for Progress described the change as replacing the lottery with a wage-based ranking (City Journal).

The bill would also rename H-1B workers "SMARTER nonimmigrants" in the labor condition rules of INA section 212(n) and remove fashion models from the category (H.R. 10460, section 6(b) and (c)).

Would the SMARTER Act change the H-1B cap?

Yes. Today the regular cap is 65,000 a year, and up to 20,000 more workers with a US master's or higher degree are exempt from it (8 U.S.C. 1184(g), govinfo). The SMARTER Act would replace the 65,000 figure with "such number as the SMART Board determines" (H.R. 10460, section 6(a)). For the first covered fiscal year, the H-1B limit would be 85,000 (H.R. 10460, section 4, new INA 203A(b)(3)(B)). The bill does not amend the 20,000 advanced-degree exemption, and the text does not say how the two would interact (H.R. 10460, section 6).

The SMART Board, formally the Skilled Migration and Recruitment of Talent Board, would sit in the Department of Commerce and have five members appointed by the President with Senate confirmation (H.R. 10460, section 4). Key limits on its power:

• each year's total could rise or fall by no more than 10 percent from the year before;
• from the second covered fiscal year, the total would be split among industries at the two-digit NAICS level;
• its meetings would be closed, and its determinations could be challenged in court only on whether they exceed the bill's limits on year-to-year changes.

All three points come from new INA section 203A (H.R. 10460, section 4). Until the first covered fiscal year starts, the current numerical limits would continue to apply (H.R. 10460, section 4, new INA 203A(b)(3)(F)). That year cannot begin until the Board has a quorum, publishes its first determination, and at least 90 days pass (H.R. 10460, section 4).

What else would change for H-1B workers?

Several provisions would help people already on H-1B (H.R. 10460, section 6(d), (e) and (g)):

• Portability across industries. A worker could move to a new employer in a different industry from the one originally approved.
• A 120-day tail after a denial. If a petition is denied, the worker's authorized stay would continue for 120 days or until the end of the prior approval, whichever comes first.
• No automatic denial on history. A new petition could not be denied solely because an earlier one was denied.
• Wider green card job portability. AC21 portability under INA section 204(j) would also cover people whose petition has been approved for more than 365 days with no visa number available to file an I-485. Today it requires an I-485 pending for 180 days (8 U.S.C. 1154(j), govinfo). Our guide to AC21 job portability covers the current rule.
• No need to leave. People in H-1B status on the enactment date would not have to depart the US before renewing.

The bill would also change the prevailing wage. Today, government wage surveys must provide at least four wage levels (8 U.S.C. 1182(p)(4), govinfo). The bill would strike that rule and set the prevailing wage at the median pay of US workers with the same education and experience in the same occupation and area (H.R. 10460, section 7).

How would the SMARTER Act points system work for green cards?

This is the part with the biggest long-term effect. The bill rewrites INA section 203(b) so that employment-based green cards go out by points:

"Employment-based visas under section 201(d) shall be made available in the number determined under section 203A for each industry to qualified immigrants in the order of points attained by each immigrant under section 220, beginning with the highest number of points." H.R. 10460, section 5(c), new INA section 203(b)(1)

The points come from new INA section 220 (H.R. 10460, section 5(d)):

Two details stand out. A US degree scores higher only if the school spent at least $100,000 on federally financed research and development in each of the previous four fiscal years and at least 60 percent of its students are US citizens (H.R. 10460, section 5(d), new INA 220(c)). And if a spouse would score lower on education, English or achievement, the applicant's score in that category would be blended 70/30 with the spouse's (H.R. 10460, section 5(d), new INA 220(i)).

Each application would need a job offer, a $160 fee and an employer attestation that the job does not displace a US worker (H.R. 10460, section 5(c)). The bill would also repeal INA section 202 (H.R. 10460, section 5(b)), the section that caps any one country at 7 percent of family and employment visas (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2), govinfo). Our explainer on country of chargeability shows why that cap drives the India and China backlogs.

The bill refers to "the termination by this Act of the family-sponsored and employment-based immigrant visa categories," and its transition rule covers people scheduled to receive a visa within one year of enactment (H.R. 10460, section 3(d)(3)). We did not find any provision that carries existing EB-2 or EB-3 priority dates into the points ranking. If you are in the backlog, that gap is worth raising with your attorney.

What else is in the SMARTER Act?

• Family immigration. Parents of US citizens would no longer be immediate relatives, family preferences would cover only spouses and children of permanent residents, and the family total would be 88,000 minus a parole offset (H.R. 10460, section 3). Petitions in eliminated categories filed after the bill's introduction date would be invalid if it became law (H.R. 10460, section 3(d)(2)).
• Diversity Visa. The program, currently 55,000 visas a year (8 U.S.C. 1151(e), govinfo), would end (H.R. 10460, section 2).
• Gold card. 25,000 visas a year for fiscal years 2026 through 2035 for people who pay $1,000,000, or whose corporate sponsor pays $2,000,000, plus a $15,000 processing fee (H.R. 10460, section 10).
• Naturalization. No one could naturalize if their affidavit of support sponsor has not repaid means-tested benefits the person received (H.R. 10460, section 8).

What this means for you

Nothing changes today. The weighted selection rule remains the rule that governs H-1B registration (90 FR 60864). The SMARTER Act has no cosponsors and no committee action (Congress.gov, H.R. 10460).

The bill matters as a signal. Both the current DHS rule and this proposal move H-1B selection away from pure chance and toward pay. If you are early in your career or in a lower wage level, a route that does not depend on the lottery is worth understanding now. Our post on what to do if you lost the H-1B lottery walks through those options.

Where to start

If the H-1B lottery is your only path, it is worth checking whether a self-petitioned route such as EB-1A, EB-2 NIW or O-1 fits you. Our free evaluation shows which routes your profile may fit, and Frank, our AI assistant, finds real opportunities for the criteria you are missing. Petitions are reviewed and filed by our partner law firm, Lai & Turner.

Sources

All checked October 21, 2026.

• H.R. 10460, SMARTER Act, Introduced in House (govinfo) (September 16, 2026). Bill text: title, sponsor, referral, H-1B selection, SMART Board, points system, family, diversity, gold card and naturalization provisions.
• H.R. 10400, SMARTER Act, Introduced in House (govinfo) (September 15, 2026). The earlier, near-identical version.
• Congress.gov, H.R. 10460 (updated October 2, 2026). Actions, cosponsors and related bills; the page blocks automated access, so these were confirmed through the Congress.gov API record for the bill.
• Congress.gov, H.R. 10400 (updated October 2, 2026). Introduction date, referral and cosponsors of the first version, confirmed the same way.
• Joint Economic Committee press release, republished by EIN Presswire (October 19, 2026). JEC fiscal estimates and link to H.R. 10460.
• Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions, Final Rule, 90 FR 60864 (govinfo) (December 29, 2025). Current weighted selection and its effective date.
• 8 U.S.C. 1184 (govinfo, 2024 edition). Current 65,000 cap, 20,000 exemption and order-of-filing rule.
• 8 U.S.C. 1154 (govinfo, 2024 edition). Current AC21 portability rule in section 1154(j).
• 8 U.S.C. 1182 (govinfo, 2024 edition). Current four-level prevailing wage rule in section 1182(p)(4).
• 8 U.S.C. 1152 (govinfo, 2024 edition). Current 7 percent per-country limit.
• 8 U.S.C. 1151 (govinfo, 2024 edition). Current 55,000 diversity visa level.
• Connor O'Brien, "The SMARTER Act: a Path Forward for Skills-Based Immigration," City Journal (September 29, 2026). A supporter's description of the H-1B change.

Frequently asked questions

Green Card Guide AI is not a law firm and this article is not legal advice. It describes evidence-building strategy in general terms; your attorney determines what belongs in your petition and how it's argued.