AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision DEC032024_03B2203: Appeal dismissed; petition remains denied (physical p. 6). Review source status, procedural posture and the…
Decision summary: AAO decision DEC032024_03B2203: Appeal dismissed; petition remains denied (physical p. 6). The petitioner did not establish three threshold criteria. Claimed player/club awards were received by others, not the beneficiary; association membership evidence did not show qualifying expert-judged outstanding achievement; submitted media failed the major-media element. AAO reserved judging and artistic-display comparable-evidence theories because the threshold was not met (pp. 2–6).
Source reviewed: This page summarizes the specific AAO source and posture recorded in the completed source-review tracker. It does not turn a nonprecedent decision into a general rule.
Scope classification from review: in_scope_EB1A_source_reviewed. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | DEC032024_03B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | December 3, 2024 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary ability in athletics; youth soccer league petitioner and soccer-coach beneficiary; appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial after motion to reconsider was dismissed. |
Procedural posture | Appeal of denial of Form I-140; prior motion to reconsider was dismissed by the Director. AAO reviewed de novo. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed; petition remains denied (physical p. 6). |
Final-merits status | Not reached; AAO expressly says it need not provide a final-merits determination (p. 6). |
What the AAO decision addressed
The petitioner did not establish three threshold criteria. Claimed player/club awards were received by others, not the beneficiary; association membership evidence did not show qualifying expert-judged outstanding achievement; submitted media failed the major-media element. AAO reserved judging and artistic-display comparable-evidence theories because the threshold was not met (pp. 2–6).
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 | not met |
Membership | not met |
Published material about the person | not met |
Judging the work of others | not reached |
Original contributions of major significance | Not coded — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not coded — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | not reached |
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-cited findings recorded in review
Citations use physical PDF page numbers; pages were visually inspected in source order.
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Use as an individual soccer-coach denial illustrating that awards to coached athletes or the employing club do not satisfy beneficiary-receipt; membership and media require their own elements. Do not merge merely because another soccer/coach decision appears. Eligible for a source-cited individual case page after editorial review; state that final merits and comparable evidence were not reached.
Editorial use note: Eligible for a source-cited individual case page after editorial review; state that final merits and comparable evidence were not reached.
Page-level source trail
Use the official PDF and the cited physical page numbers to check each statement.
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
Awards research
Membership research
Published material about the person research
Judging the work of others research
Artistic display or showcases research
Athletics sector research
Threshold research
Final Merits research
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