AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision JAN082009_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: The AAO Appeal dismissed Past swimming awards do not show sustained acclaim as a coach; published material, contributions and leadership evidence do not meet the criteria. No three-criterion threshold and no separate formal FMD.
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: Physical decision identifies an AAO appeal concerning an EB-1A extraordinary-ability Form I-140.. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | JAN082009_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | January 8, 2009 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary ability (Form I-140) |
Procedural posture | Public-copy, nonprecedent AAO appeal from Nebraska Service Center EB-1A denial; petitioner is a Romanian former competitive swimmer seeking to coach in the United States; appeal dismissed. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed |
Final-merits status | The AAO expressly states that the required threshold of three evidentiary criteria was not established, so a separate formal final-merits determination was not reached. |
What the AAO decision addressed
Past swimming awards do not show sustained acclaim as a coach; published material, contributions and leadership evidence do not meet the criteria. No three-criterion threshold and no separate formal FMD.
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 | |
Membership | Not considered — source PDF |
Published material about the person | |
Judging the work of others | Not considered — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | |
Scholarly authorship | Not considered — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not considered — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | Not met — p. 8 |
High salary or remuneration | Not met — p. 8 |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not considered — source PDF |
Source-cited findings recorded in review
claim: Petitioner is described as a Romanian competitive swimmer from 1990–2004 seeking to work as a swimming coach in the United States.; evidence_pages: 2; 3
claim: The AAO distinguishes past acclaim as an athlete from claimed coaching expertise; it finds awards do not establish acclaim as a coach, and rejects publication, contributions, leading role and salary evidence.; evidence_pages: 4; 5; 6; 7; 8
claim: The appeal is dismissed; no formal final-merits finding is made.; evidence_pages: 8; 9
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Eligible with caveats
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
Original contributions of major significance research
Scholarly authorship research
Artistic display or showcases research
Leading or critical role research
High salary or remuneration research
Commercial success in the performing arts research
Athletics sector research
Threshold research
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