AAO research

AAO EB-1A decision FEB262021_03B2203: Scholarly authorship

AAO EB-1A decision FEB262021_03B2203: Scholarly authorship

EB-1A scholarly authorship — AAO decision FEB262021_03B2203: Appeal dismissed; see cited pages. Review source status, procedural posture and the official…

Decision summary: AAO decision FEB262021_03B2203: Appeal dismissed; see cited pages. AAO conducted final merits and dismissed. The record described significant product work, patents, and praise, but did not show sustained acclaim or top-of-field standing; salary comparison used non-managerial developers rather than comparable managers (pp. 2–7).

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

FEB262021_03B2203

Decision date as printed

February 26, 2021

Classification / field stated in source

Software development engineering manager at a technology company; emergency-location and 9-1-1 technology work.

Procedural posture

Appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial of Form I-140 filed by software/hardware development company.

Operative disposition

Appeal dismissed; see cited pages.

Final-merits status

Reached; adverse. Product contributions and patents were not shown to establish broad recognition, and publications/salary evidence did not place the beneficiary among the small percentage at the top (pp. 3–7).

What the AAO decision addressed

AAO conducted final merits and dismissed. The record described significant product work, patents, and praise, but did not show sustained acclaim or top-of-field standing; salary comparison used non-managerial developers rather than comparable managers (pp. 2–7).

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 coded — source PDF

Membership

Not coded — source PDF

Published material about the person

Not coded — source PDF

Judging the work of others

Not coded — source PDF

Original contributions of major significance

met — source PDF

Scholarly authorship

met
Five papers from 2003–04 did not show sustained acclaim or publication standing commensurate with top-of-field status (p. 6). — source PDF

Artistic display or showcases

Not coded — source PDF

Leading or critical role

met
Letters and work history did not demonstrate the beneficiary’s relative standing at final merits (pp. 4–6). — source PDF

High salary or remuneration

Not met — source PDF

Commercial success in the performing arts

Not coded — source PDF

Source-cited findings recorded in review

  • pp. 1–7

How this record may be used in research

Comparison scope: Strong technology comparator for internal product impact versus field recognition, patent evidence, authorship recency, and matching salary comparison populations. Individual case page; separate objective work outcomes from extraordinary-ability recognition.

Editorial use note: Individual case page; separate objective work outcomes from extraordinary-ability recognition.

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

  • Scholarly authorship research

  • Leading or critical role research

  • Computing sector research

  • Final Merits research

Browse the AAO decision index · Read EB-1A evidence guides · Review source and correction methodology.

Primary source

Official USCIS AAO decision PDF for FEB262021_03B2203