i485 is for people currently living in the US who want to adjust status from non immigrant to immigrant consular processing is for people applying for the green card while being outside the US

@J A. 🇱🇧🇺🇸 that’s not his question. you can opt for consular processing even if you’re in the US. @croto knight this is a very good question, I believe with the fee hike and all, this will be a viable option. For larger families, it will be understandable and somewhat cheaper.

my personal reason was that you can't appeal the officers decision at the consulate but i-485 denial you can appeal. another reason is that some embassies are backlogged for years and it is faster to get gc via AOS.

@T. G. yes that’s what I mean , thank you guys : ) @J A. 🇱🇧🇺🇸 @Artur D

I am with @Artur D - you have almost no rights to appeal if applying from the outside. Also, the set of the documents is different: for example if you lived in say 5 different countries for more then 6 months each you have to submit the police certificates from all of them to the consulate (imagine the logistic of getting them all, considering the fact all of them have to be current). plus from what I know you can still get stuck in AP for about the same time it takes to get processed in the us (6months to a year for non complicated cases).

isn’t consular processing also subject to priority date?

@H M for petition to be processed by consulate applicant's final action date should be current

reasons we chose i485 over consular processing: -you had to do medicals outside of the us with consular processing - you can‘t come at least for a short while it‘s in progress at the embassy (similar to a visa) -also with i485 you’ll get an extension of your approved stay + ead if your current visa status expires which you wouldn‘t with consular processing upside for consular processing would be though that if you travel a lot you wouldn‘t had to wait many months for your travel permit (advance parol)