AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision JAN082020_02B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: The AAO Appeal dismissed Three initial criteria were met, but the final merits determination found the totality insufficient for sustained acclaim or top-of-field standing.
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 decision on a Form I-140 EB-1A extraordinary-ability petition; unusual field and procedural distinctions are preserved in the facts/caveats.. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | JAN082020_02B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | January 8, 2020 |
Classification / field stated in source | Form I-140 EB-1A extraordinary-ability decision under INA §203(b)(1)(A). |
Procedural posture | Appeal after director denied the petition and denied successive motions to reopen/reconsider; appeal dismissed. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed |
Final-merits status | Express final-merits determination finds regional/home-state acclaim and a limited period of national recognition, but insufficient sustained acclaim/top-of-field standing. |
What the AAO decision addressed
Three initial criteria were met, but the final merits determination found the totality insufficient for sustained acclaim or top-of-field standing.
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 | met — p. 3 |
Membership | met — p. 3 |
Published material about the person | met — p. 4 |
Judging the work of others | Not met — p. 3 |
Original contributions of major significance | Not met — p. 6 |
Scholarly authorship | Not considered — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not reached — p. 3 |
Leading or critical role | |
High salary or remuneration | Not considered — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not considered — source PDF |
Source-cited findings recorded in review
claim: The petitioner was a former member of Mexican junior and senior national teams from 2002 to 2012 and began coaching in 2014.; pages: 2
claim: The AAO found awards, qualifying national-team membership, and major-media articles met the three threshold criteria; it withdrew the director’s favorable judging finding because there was no evidence of actual judging by the January 2017 filing date.; pages: 3; 4
claim: Final merits found a short period of national acclaim during 2010–2012 and home-state recognition, but not sustained acclaim or top-of-field standing as a gymnast or coach.; pages: 5; 6; 7; 8
claim: Hand-painted apparatus designs were not shown to be major-significance contributions; coaching evidence did not establish a leading or critical role or sustained acclaim as a coach.; pages: 6; 7; 8
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
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
Final Merits research
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