I-140 Approved: Priority Date, I-485, and Consular Processing

With your I-140 approved, the next steps toward your green card come down to three things: confirming when a visa number is available for you, choosing between adjustment of status inside the U.S. or consular processing abroad, and protecting the priority date you just secured while you wait. The approval itself does not grant permanent residency. It confirms that USCIS accepted your employer’s petition to sponsor you, and puts you in line.

Check Your Priority Date Against the Visa Bulletin

Your priority date is your place in line. For most employment-based cases, it is the date the Department of Labor accepted your labor certification application. For categories that skip labor certification, such as EB-1 or an EB-2 National Interest Waiver, it is the date USCIS received your I-140.¹

Each month, the Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin with cut-off dates for every employment-based preference category and country of chargeability. If your priority date is earlier than the cut-off listed for your category and country, your date is “current” and you can move forward. If the bulletin shows “C” for your category, visas are immediately available to everyone qualified in that group.¹ Applicants born in India and China commonly face backlogs measured in years; applicants from lower-demand countries may find their dates current almost immediately.

The bulletin contains two charts that matter: Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing. Each month USCIS announces which chart adjustment applicants should use. When visa supply is high relative to demand, USCIS lets applicants use the more generous Dates for Filing chart, meaning you can submit your adjustment application earlier even though a final visa number is not yet available. Otherwise you use Final Action Dates.² The designated chart can change from one month to the next, so it is worth a quick check every month.

Choose Between Adjustment of Status and Consular Processing

Once your priority date is current, or is approaching current under the Dates for Filing chart, you pick one of two routes.

Adjustment of status means filing Form I-485 with USCIS and remaining in the United States throughout the process. It is available if you are physically present in the U.S. on a valid nonimmigrant status.³ Consular processing routes your case through the National Visa Center to a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad, which is the usual path for applicants living outside the country or those who cannot adjust from within.

If a visa number is already available when your employer files the I-140, you may be able to file Form I-485 at the same time. USCIS allows concurrent filing for most employment-based applicants, which can shave months off the timeline.⁴

Filing Form I-485 From Inside the U.S.

Form I-485 goes to USCIS with supporting documents including photographs, a copy of your I-140 approval notice, evidence of your nonimmigrant status, and a birth certificate.⁵

Work Authorization and Travel While Pending

You can file Form I-765 (employment authorization) and Form I-131 (travel document) at the same time as your I-485. The employment authorization document lets you work for any employer while the green card application is pending, and advance parole lets you travel internationally and return without abandoning the application.⁶ Filing both forms together with the I-485 can produce a combo card that combines the two benefits into one document.

A critical warning: if you leave the United States while your I-485 is pending without an approved advance parole document in hand, USCIS treats the application as abandoned.⁵ This catches people who are used to traveling freely on H-1B or L-1 status. Get advance parole approved before booking any international flight.

The Medical Examination

Adjustment applicants must submit Form I-693, completed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. The exam covers a physical, blood tests, a chest X-ray if indicated, and required vaccinations. Costs vary by provider, and vaccinations are usually billed separately.

A policy change that took effect in June 2025 matters here: a Form I-693 signed by a civil surgeon on or after November 1, 2023, is only valid while the adjustment application it was submitted with is pending. If your I-485 is denied or withdrawn, the medical exam cannot be reused with a future application.⁷

Fees

Form I-485 carries a government filing fee, and since April 2024, separate fees apply if you concurrently file Forms I-765 and I-131. USCIS updates its fee schedule periodically, so check the USCIS Fee Calculator at uscis.gov/feecalculator before filing to confirm current amounts. USCIS no longer accepts personal checks or money orders for paper-filed forms; payment is by credit card, debit card, or ACH bank transfer.

Consular Processing From Outside the U.S.

If you live abroad, or prefer to finish the process at a U.S. embassy or consulate, USCIS forwards your approved I-140 to the National Visa Center after approval.

NVC Processing

The NVC collects fees, forms, and civil documents before sending your case to the consulate. For employment-based cases the immigrant visa application processing fee is $345 per person, and an Affidavit of Support review, when required, costs another $120.⁸ Fees are non-refundable and apply to each applicant, including derivative family members.

Once your priority date is current, you complete the DS-260 online and submit civil documents: birth certificate, marriage certificate, police clearances, passport bio page, and the Affidavit of Support showing financial sufficiency.⁹ When the NVC determines the file is complete, it forwards your case to the consulate.¹⁰

Medical Exam and Interview

Before the interview, schedule an exam with a panel physician approved by the U.S. embassy in the country where you will interview. Only those designated doctors are accepted. The exam includes medical history, physical, chest X-ray, blood tests, and any required vaccinations.¹¹ Depending on the country, the physician either sends results to the embassy directly or gives you a sealed envelope to bring. Do not open that envelope.¹²

At the interview, bring your unexpired passport (valid at least six months beyond your intended entry date), the appointment letter, two passport-style photos, your DS-260 confirmation page, and original or certified copies of the civil documents you submitted through the NVC.¹³ If approved, you receive an immigrant visa packet and have a limited window, typically six months, to enter the United States and activate your permanent residency.

Including Your Spouse and Children

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can receive green cards with you as derivative beneficiaries. They share your preference category and priority date without needing a separate I-140.¹⁴ In adjustment of status, they file their own I-485s alongside yours. In consular processing, they are included through the NVC and attend the interview with you.

Children aging out is the concern to watch. If a child turns 21 during a long backlog, they would normally lose derivative eligibility. The Child Status Protection Act provides a formula: subtract the days the qualifying petition was pending from the child’s age when a visa number becomes available. If the result is under 21, the child still qualifies, but they must seek permanent residency within one year of the visa becoming available.¹⁵ For families in multi-year backlogs, this calculation is worth tracking closely.

Changing Employers Without Losing Your Place in Line

The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21) lets you port your green card application to a new employer if three conditions are met: your I-485 has been pending for 180 days or more, your I-140 was filed in the EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 category, and the new job is in the same or a similar occupational classification as the one described in the I-140.¹⁶ The new employer can be any company, and self-employment also qualifies. To request portability, file Form I-485 Supplement J, signed by you and the new employer.¹⁷

“Same or similar” does not mean identical job titles. USCIS looks at the totality of the circumstances: duties, required education and experience, SOC codes, and wages.¹⁸

Protecting Your I-140 If Your Employer Withdraws It

Your employer can request to withdraw your I-140 at any time. If the withdrawal happens before the petition has been approved for 180 days and you have not filed an I-485 that has been pending for 180 days, USCIS automatically revokes the approval. You lose both the petition and your priority date.

Once the I-140 has been approved for at least 180 days, or your I-485 has been pending for at least 180 days, USCIS will not revoke the petition on withdrawal. Your priority date is preserved and the I-140 remains valid for portability. You will still need a new qualifying job offer, or a new employer to file a fresh I-140, to actually receive the green card.¹⁹ The same 180-day protection applies if the employer’s business shuts down.

If you are thinking about leaving your job soon after I-140 approval, waiting past the 180-day mark can be the difference between keeping years of progress and starting from scratch.

Keeping Your Status While You Wait

H-1B status normally caps at six years, but an approved I-140 changes that. If your I-140 is approved and you cannot get a green card yet because no visa number is available, you can extend your H-1B in three-year increments beyond the six-year limit.²⁰

A separate rule covers earlier stages. If at least 365 days have passed since a labor certification or I-140 was filed for you, you can extend your H-1B in one-year increments, even if the I-140 has not yet been approved. This one-year extension is also available when your priority date is current but your green card application is still processing.²⁰ For applicants from backlogged countries who may wait a decade or more, these extensions keep you legally employed while you wait.

Falling out of valid status can result in denial of your adjustment application or removal. Accruing unlawful presence brings additional consequences. More than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence, followed by a voluntary departure, triggers a three-year bar on reentry. One year or more triggers a ten-year bar regardless of whether you left voluntarily or were removed.²¹

After you enter the U.S. on your immigrant visa, or your I-485 is approved, expect the physical Permanent Resident Card to arrive by mail within roughly 90 days. If you paid the immigrant fee before entry, the clock starts from your entry date; if you paid after arrival, it starts from the payment date.²³ Your passport with the immigrant visa stamp, or the I-551 stamp for adjustment applicants, works as proof of permanent residency until the card arrives.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Visa Availability and Priority Dates
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Concurrent Filing of Form I-485
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-485 Instructions for Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Form I-765 with Other Forms
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Changes Validity Period for Any Form I-693 Signed on or after Nov. 1, 2023
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U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services
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U.S. Department of State. Step 7: Collect Civil Documents
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U.S. Department of State. Step 2: Begin National Visa Center (NVC) Processing
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U.S. Department of State. Step 10: Prepare for the Interview
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U.S. Department of State. Medical Examinations FAQs
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U.S. Department of State. Step 11: Applicant Interview
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 7 – Child Status Protection Act
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Job Portability after Adjustment Filing and Other AC21 Provisions
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-485 Instructions for Supplement J, Confirmation of Bona Fide Job Offer or Request for Job Portability Under INA Section 204(j)
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How USCIS Determines Same or Similar Occupational Classifications for Job Portability Under AC21
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Petition Filing and Processing Procedures for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. FAQs for Individuals in H-1B Nonimmigrant Status
21
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Immigrant Fee
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. When to Expect Your Green Card