AAO research

AAO EB-1A decision JAN092020_03B2203: Awards

AAO EB-1A decision JAN092020_03B2203: Awards

EB-1A awards — AAO decision JAN092020_03B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.

Decision summary: The AAO Appeal dismissed The decision rejects the claimed awards, published material, original contributions, leading/critical role and high-salary evidence. It finds neither a one-time achievement nor three qualifying criteria. It then comments on the aggregate record but states that a separate final-merits determination is unnecessary because the threshold was not met.

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 source is an AAO decision on an EB-1A extraordinary-ability Form I-140 appeal.. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.

Decision snapshot

Decision ID

JAN092020_03B2203

Decision date as printed

January 9, 2020

Classification / field stated in source

EB-1A extraordinary ability (Form I-140)

Procedural posture

Nonprecedent AAO appeal from a service-center denial; appeal dismissed. The decision concludes the regulatory evidence threshold was not met and discusses the aggregate record.

Operative disposition

Appeal dismissed

Final-merits status

The AAO states that the initial evidentiary threshold is unmet and that it need not reach a separate final-merits determination; the ensuing aggregate-record discussion is not labeled a formal final-merits determination.

What the AAO decision addressed

The decision rejects the claimed awards, published material, original contributions, leading/critical role and high-salary evidence. It finds neither a one-time achievement nor three qualifying criteria. It then comments on the aggregate record but states that a separate final-merits determination is unnecessary because the threshold was not met.

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 — p. 3, p. 4

Membership

Not considered — source PDF

Published material about the person

Not met — p. 4, p. 5

Judging the work of others

Not considered — source PDF

Original contributions of major significance

Not met — p. 6, p. 7

Scholarly authorship

Not considered — source PDF

Artistic display or showcases

Not considered — source PDF

Leading or critical role

Not met — p. 8, p. 9

High salary or remuneration

Not met — p. 10

Commercial success in the performing arts

Not considered — source PDF

Source-cited findings recorded in review

  • claim: Petitioner seeks EB-1A classification based on work as an animation director/producer and cites industry awards and professional achievements.; evidence_pages: 1; 2; 3

  • claim: AAO finds the cited awards and published material do not establish the respective criteria and rejects the claimed contributions, role, and salary showings.; evidence_pages: 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10

  • claim: The AAO finds the threshold unmet, says a separate final-merits determination is unnecessary, and dismisses the appeal.; evidence_pages: 10; 11

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

  • Threshold 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 JAN092020_03B2203