HR 10400: SMARTER Act

HR 10400 in plain English: The SMARTER Act would create or modify immigration pathways related to high-skilled workers and investors, including new visa or status categories tied to employment at research universities and to large financial investments in the United States.

Stated purpose

The SMARTER Act aims to shift U.S. immigration toward a skills-based points system, narrow family-sponsored immigration to focus on spouses and minor children, and eliminate the Diversity Visa Program.

Key points

• Requires a $160 application fee for certain employer-sponsored immigration filings
• Ties some employer eligibility to spending at least $100,000 in federally financed research and development
• Allows individuals to obtain status by paying $1,000,000 plus a $15,000 processing fee, or corporations paying $2,000,000 plus a $15,000 processing fee on their behalf
• Requires Homeland Security to conduct background checks on applicants

Arguments supporters make

• A points-based system selects immigrants for the skills the economy actually needs, which supporters say leads to higher wages, more innovation, and faster growth for everyone
• Focusing family visas on immediate nuclear family — spouses and young children — keeps families together while freeing up visa slots for workers with in-demand talents
• Eliminating the Diversity Visa lottery, which critics say awards visas by chance, replaces randomness with a merit-based process that better serves national economic interests

Arguments opponents make

• Cutting off sponsorship for parents and adult relatives splits up multigenerational families and breaks a longstanding American tradition of keeping families whole
• Eliminating the Diversity Visa Program closes one of the few legal pathways for people from Africa and other underrepresented regions, reducing the diversity of immigration flows
• A points system tends to favor applicants from wealthier countries with better access to advanced degrees and English training, which critics argue is its own form of bias rather than true merit

Tradeoffs

The bill trades a broader, more inclusive definition of family and geographic diversity in immigration for a narrower focus on economic skills and nuclear-family ties, meaning some groups gain clearer pathways while others lose existing ones entirely.

Current status in Congress: In committee.

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