An approved I-140 says you qualify for the classification. It does not make you a permanent resident. That is a separate step, on one of two routes, and neither opens until a visa number is available to you.
- Approval classifies you. It is not permanent residence
- Two routes: adjustment of status inside the US, consular processing abroad
- Neither begins until a visa number is available
- The National Visa Center handles the consular path
- Your priority date determines when that happens
The two routes
USCIS frames the choice by where you are:
"Once you are the beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition and an immigrant visa number is immediately available to you, there are two ways to apply for lawful permanent resident status (a Green Card). If you are outside of the United States, you may apply at a U.S. Department of State consulate abroad for an immigrant visa in order to come to the United States and be admitted as a permanent resident. This pathway is referred to as consular processing." USCIS, Consular Processing
And the alternative:
"If you are already in the United States, you can apply for permanent resident status without having to return to your home country to complete processing. This process is called adjustment of status." USCIS, Consular Processing
Which is available to you turns on your location and your immigration status, and choosing between them where both are open is a legal decision with real consequences for travel, work authorisation, and timing. That conversation belongs with your attorney.
The gate on both routes
Note the opening clause of that first quotation: an approved petition and a visa number immediately available. Approval alone does not open either door.
Whether a number is available depends on your preference category, your country of chargeability, and your priority date, measured against the monthly Visa Bulletin. If your category is backlogged, an approved I-140 can sit for a long time before anything else can happen. Priority dates and retrogression covers those mechanics, including why the cut-off dates can move backwards.
In some circumstances the I-485 can be filed together with the I-140 rather than after it, but only where approval of the petition would make a visa immediately available. That is covered in the same article.
What happens on the consular route
USCIS describes the sequence. After approval, "USCIS will then send the approved petition to the Department of State's National Visa Center. The petition will remain there until an immigrant visa number is available for you."
The NVC then takes over the administrative work:
"The National Visa Center (NVC) is responsible for collecting visa application fees and supporting documentation. The NVC will notify the petitioner and you (the beneficiary) when the visa petition is received and again when an immigrant visa number is about to become available." USCIS, Consular Processing
Once your date is current, the consular office schedules an interview and decides eligibility. USCIS also lists three changes you should report to the NVC, since each can affect eligibility or visa availability: a change of address, turning 21 if you were under 21, and a change of marital status.
If the visa is granted there is one instruction people get wrong:
"If you are granted an immigrant visa, the consular officer will give you a packet of information. This packet is known as a 'Visa Packet.' Do not open this packet." USCIS, Consular Processing
You also pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee, which USCIS says it uses to process the packet and produce the Green Card, and it encourages paying online after receiving the packet and before departing.
What to do with the waiting time
For anyone in a backlogged category, the honest answer is that the queue is now the slow part, and it is outside your control. The record is not.
- Keep the approval notice safe. The Form I-797 carries your priority date
- Keep the evidence current. Judging seats, citations, and coverage continue to accrue
- Report changes that affect eligibility on the consular route
- Keep documentation of continuing work in your field, since that requirement does not disappear at approval
- Watch the Visa Bulletin rather than any figure quoted in an article, since it changes monthly
That third and fourth point connect to something worth remembering: EB-1A requires that you intend to continue working in your area of extraordinary ability, which is not a box ticked once at filing. The two requirements that are not about your evidence covers it.
And if you may file another petition later, an approved one you already hold may carry its date forward, which is the subject of priority date retention.
If the petition was not approved
A denial is a different road with its own thirty-day clocks, and a denied petition establishes no priority date at all. If your I-140 is denied sets out the appeal and motion routes.
Sources
All accessed 25 August 2026.
- USCIS, Consular Processing. Source of every quotation above, including the two routes, the NVC's role, and the Visa Packet instruction.
- USCIS, Adjustment of Status. The in-country route.
- USCIS, Visa Availability and Priority Dates. When a visa number becomes available.
- USCIS, Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
We publish no processing times or fees here. Both change, and the USCIS pages above are the reliable source.
This article describes the process in general terms. It is not a substitute for advice from your attorney about your own case.
Frequently asked questions
Does an approved I-140 make you a permanent resident?
No. It establishes the classification. Becoming a permanent resident requires a further step, either adjustment of status inside the United States or an immigrant visa through consular processing abroad.
What is the difference between adjustment and consular processing?
USCIS describes consular processing as applying at a US consulate abroad for an immigrant visa. Adjustment of status is applying for permanent resident status from inside the United States without returning to your home country.
When can you take the next step?
Once an immigrant visa number is available to you. USCIS frames both routes as beginning once you are the beneficiary of an approved petition and a visa number is immediately available.
What does the National Visa Center do?
USCIS states the NVC is responsible for collecting visa application fees and supporting documentation, and will notify the petitioner and beneficiary when the petition is received and when a visa number is about to become available.
Do you have to open the visa packet?
No. USCIS says the consular officer gives you a packet known as a Visa Packet and instructs you not to open it. You give it to the CBP officer at the port of entry.
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.