AAO research
EB-1A published material about the person — AAO decision APR112023_01B2203: Appeal dismissed; petition remains denied. Review source status, procedural…
Decision summary: AAO decision APR112023_01B2203: Appeal dismissed; petition remains denied. AAO accepted that petitioner held national records and competed at 2012 Olympics, but found extensive evidence did not establish sustained national/international acclaim or top-of-field standing in her specific events. World Aquatics results showed many faster swimmers in personal-best years; competition/media evidence was not sufficient.
Source limitation: The review record contains a source hold or limitation. Read the limitation below before relying on any case detail; unresolved facts are not treated as findings.
Scope classification from review: in_scope_EB1A. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | APR112023_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | April 11, 2023 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary ability petition (AAO nonprecedent decision) |
Procedural posture | Appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial; Director found three initial criteria and denied at final merits. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed; petition remains denied. |
Final-merits status | reached_and_unfavorable |
What the AAO decision addressed
AAO accepted that petitioner held national records and competed at 2012 Olympics, but found extensive evidence did not establish sustained national/international acclaim or top-of-field standing in her specific events. World Aquatics results showed many faster swimmers in personal-best years; competition/media evidence was not sufficient.
Criterion-by-criterion status in this source
These labels reproduce the source-review record. “Not considered,” “not reached,” and “not coded” do not mean the criterion failed. A Director finding recited as background is not an AAO holding unless the decision says so.
Criterion | Source-review status |
|---|---|
Awards | met — source PDF |
Membership | met — source PDF |
Published material about the person | met |
Judging the work of others | Not coded — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | Not coded — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not coded — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | Not coded — source PDF |
High salary or remuneration | Not coded — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not coded — source PDF |
Source holds and limits
"The public decision reflects rankings reviewed in 2023; do not reuse numeric comparisons as current rankings."
Source-cited findings recorded in review
claim: Director found lesser awards, association membership, and published-material criteria; appeal issue was aggregate acclaim/top-of-field final merits.; pages: 2
claim: AAO compared petitioner’s event-specific best times to World Aquatics rankings and identified 151 faster 50m backstrokers, 120 faster 100m backstrokers, and 200+ faster 100m freestylers in relevant years.; pages: 3
claim: AAO discussed limited media coverage, national records, Olympic participation, and competition evidence; concluded totality did not establish sustained acclaim/top of field.; pages: 4
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Eligible for individual case discussion_with_careful_citations
Page-level source trail
Use the official PDF and the cited physical page numbers to check each statement.
PDF page 2 — Director’s initial-criteria findings and AAO’s final-merits question.
PDF page 3 — Event-specific rankings and analysis of competitions.
How to use this record
This is a historical, nonprecedent AAO decision about its own administrative record. It is not a prediction, success rate, or current filing instruction. Compare the issue and procedural stage before drawing an analogy. The current framework is in the USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 2.
Related corpus research
Full-corpus research index
Published material about the person research
Athletics sector research
Final Merits research
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