AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision JAN072020_03B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision JAN072020_03B2203: Appeal dismissed. AAO found no qualifying major award and no three criteria. Sports rankings/participation evidence did not establish receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes; petitioner did not establish that alleged placements were qualifying prizes. No threshold eligibility.
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; verified in source review. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | JAN072020_03B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | January 7, 2020 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary ability; field: water-polo coaching / athletics. |
Procedural posture | Appeal from Nebraska Service Center denial; Director found no initial criterion satisfied. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed. |
Final-merits status | "No full final-merits determination; threshold not met, though AAO also states record did not establish top-of-field distinction." |
What the AAO decision addressed
AAO found no qualifying major award and no three criteria. Sports rankings/participation evidence did not establish receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes; petitioner did not establish that alleged placements were qualifying prizes. No threshold eligibility.
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 reached |
Published material about the person | Not coded — source PDF |
Judging the work of others | Not coded — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | Not coded — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not coded — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | Not coded — source PDF |
High salary or remuneration | not reached |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not coded — source PDF |
Source-cited findings recorded in review
pp. 1–4, especially awards p. 3 and conclusion pp. 3–4.
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Negative comparator for confusing participation/rankings/placements with a qualifying award; distinguish the decision’s factual limits and any cumulative discussion. eligible_for_editorial_review_with_citations
Editorial use note: eligible_for_editorial_review_with_citations
Page-level source trail
Use the official PDF and the cited physical page numbers to check each statement.
PDF page 1 — Cover; January 7, 2020; petitioner identified as water-polo coach; denial/appeal.
PDF page 4 — Discusses total record/top-of-field standing and dismisses appeal.
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
High salary or remuneration research
Athletics sector research
Threshold research
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