AAO research
EB-1A published material about the person — AAO decision JAN022019_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official…
Decision summary: The AAO Appeal dismissed AAO found judging, leading/critical role, and commercial success met, but published material not met; it then found the evidence did not establish sustained acclaim, particularly during the 2000–2016 period when the petitioner was not in the band.
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: The source is an AAO EB-1A appeal or related motion with decision-specific procedural/evidentiary analysis.. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | JAN022019_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | January 2, 2019 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary-ability petition appeal or related motion |
Procedural posture | EB-1A appeal; initial threshold met through three criteria, appeal dismissed after formal final-merits determination. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed |
Final-merits status | The initial threshold was met, but the petitioner did not show sustained acclaim or top-of-field standing, particularly during the extended gap outside the band. |
What the AAO decision addressed
AAO found judging, leading/critical role, and commercial success met, but published material not met; it then found the evidence did not establish sustained acclaim, particularly during the 2000–2016 period when the petitioner was not in the band.
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 | |
Judging the work of others | |
Original contributions of major significance | Not coded — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not met — p. 3 |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | |
High salary or remuneration | Not coded — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts |
Source-cited findings recorded in review
claim: The petitioner was lead guitarist for a Philippine band from 1990 to 2000, left during its hiatus, and rejoined as lead guitarist in 2016.; pages: 1; 2
claim: AAO found the petitioner intended to continue work in music and that the evidence met the statutory continue-work/prospective-benefit requirement.; pages: 2; 3
claim: Published interviews lacked dates/certified translations and were not sufficiently about the petitioner; profile mentions did not establish the published-material criterion.; pages: 3; 4
claim: AAO accepted judging two local contests, lead guitarist role for a distinguished band, and the band’s gold through quadruple-platinum sales as meeting three initial criteria.; pages: 4
claim: The 1990s acclaim and album sales did not establish acclaim during 2000–2016, when the petitioner was outside the band; evidence of later concert reviews/views did not establish individual, sustained acclaim.; pages: 4; 5; 6
claim: AAO dismissed after formal final merits, finding no sustained national/international acclaim.; pages: 6; 7
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Eligible for individual case discussion
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
Published material about the person research
Judging the work of others research
Scholarly authorship research
Leading or critical role research
Commercial success in the performing arts research
Performance sector research
Threshold research
Final Merits research
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