AAO research
AAO EB-1A decision AUG212025_01B2203: petroleum geology and eb‑1a original contributions criterion guide
When claiming the Membership or Original Contributions criteria for EB‑1A, you must provide concrete, expert‑judged evidence—such as detailed recommendation letters, citation metrics, and documentation of the society’s selection standards—otherwise the AAO will reject the criterion. Comparable compe
Decision Snapshot
Field Value --- --- Decision ID AUG212025_01B2203 Decision date 2025-08-21 Outcome dismissed Field or occupation petroleum geology Final merits discussed No / not stated
Criteria Discussed
high_salary
judging
leading_critical_role
membership
original_contributions
scholarly_articles
Criteria Accepted
judging
scholarly_articles
Criteria Rejected
high_salary
leading_critical_role
membership
original_contributions
Core Lesson
When claiming the Membership or Original Contributions criteria for EB‑1A, you must provide concrete, expert‑judged evidence—such as detailed recommendation letters, citation metrics, and documentation of the society’s selection standards—otherwise the AAO will reject the criterion.
Evidence Issue
Comparable compensation data to demonstrate high salary
Proof that the professional societies’ membership criteria are based on expert‑judged outstanding achievement
Specific, detailed letters showing the unusual influence or high impact of the petitioner’s work
Citation metrics or other objective evidence that the research constitutes a major contribution to the field
Documentation of a leading or critical role within the petitioner’s organization
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.