Bob and Bill both received PERM approvals at the same time. Both were born in the same country and both were subject to a serious visa backlog. Bob's attorney designated consular processing on Bob's I-140. Bill's attorney designated adjustment of status.

After the I-140s were approved, Bob's went to the National Visa Center, where a file was opened and processing started. Bill's went to CIS archives, where it sat until Bill's priority date became current.

In the months leading up to Bob's and Bill's priority date becoming current, the NVC asked Bob to provide them with all of the remaining supporting documents needed in his case. Bill's case required no action because nothing had been filed.

In March, Bob and Bill learned that their priority dates would become current on April 1st.

In early April, Bob was notified that he would have an interview in connection with his consular immigrant visa application in mid-May.

Bill prepared his adjustment of status application and filed it on April 1st. He got his receipt notice in late April.

In mid-May, Bob went overseas, had his interview and received his immigrant visa. He returned in late May and was admitted at the port of entry as a lawful permanent resident. His physical green card arrived in the mail about a week later.

In late June, Bill received his EAD and advance parole.

In October, Bill became I-140 portable and gained the right to change jobs and/or employers.

In the middle of the following year, the CIS approved Bill's adjustment of status and he became a lawful permanent resident.

Two of Bob's and Bill's co-workers, Chuck and Ted saw all of this and decided to modify their processing plans.

Chuck, who had designated adjustment of status on his I-140 decided that he wanted to do consular processing instead. He had his employer file a form I-824 to have his approved I-140 transferred from CIS archives to the National Visa Center. Unfortunately, it takes the CIS about a year to process these applications and Chuck's processing was delayed accordingly.

Ted's case involved the opposite situation. He had designated consular processing on his I-140, but now wanted to file for adjustment of status. He did not have to do anything to efffect this change. He simply filed his application for AOS and the CIS retrieved his approved I-140 immediately. The NVC does not suffer from the massive processing delays that plague the CIS. Ted's AOS application proceeded normally, without any delays.

The lesson to be learned is that you should always designate consular processing when you file an I-140. If you decide to file for adjustment of status, there is no delay at all in getting the file back from the NVC. On the other hand, if you designate AOS, and decide to to consular processing, it can take the CIS up to a year to transfer the file to the NVC.