AAO research

AAO EB-1A decision AUG122020_02B2203: writer and common pitfalls in professional membership evidence for eb‑1a

If you do not appeal a Director’s denial of a criterion, the AAO will treat that criterion as waived, and you must provide objective, documented evidence—especially for membership in professional associations—to avoid denial. Objective, documented evidence of the membership selection criteria and ou

Decision Snapshot

Field Value --- --- Decision ID AUG122020_02B2203 Decision date 2020-08-12 Outcome dismissed Field or occupation writer Final merits discussed No / not stated

Criteria Discussed

  • awards

  • high_salary

  • leading_critical_role

  • membership

  • original_contributions

  • published_material

  • scholarly_articles

Criteria Accepted

Not stated in the extracted decision plan.

Criteria Rejected

  • membership

  • published_material

Core Lesson

If you do not appeal a Director’s denial of a criterion, the AAO will treat that criterion as waived, and you must provide objective, documented evidence—especially for membership in professional associations—to avoid denial.

Evidence Issue

  • Objective, documented evidence of the membership selection criteria and outstanding achievements for the professional association.

  • Any appeal or contestation of the Director's denial; failure to do so caused the AAO to deem the criteria waived.

How This Connects

This decision is part of Extraordinary's AAO EB-1A corpus. It is exposed as a structured decision card so readers, search engines, and AI search systems can connect the decision to broader EB-1A evidence patterns.

Source Note

Non-precedent AAO decisions are used as evidence examples. They are not binding authority and do not predict any individual case.