AAO research

AAO EB-1A decision JAN162025_02B2203: Awards

AAO EB-1A decision JAN162025_02B2203: Awards

EB-1A awards — AAO decision JAN162025_02B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.

Decision summary: The AAO Appeal dismissed The appeal establishes no more than one previously accepted criterion and does not establish the asserted additional criteria; AAO reserves the leading-role issue and dismisses for failure to meet the three-criterion threshold.

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: Complete AAO decision on an EB-1A Form I-140 extraordinary-ability petition or appeal, including the decision that remands for further action.. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.

Decision snapshot

Decision ID

JAN162025_02B2203

Decision date as printed

2025-01-16

Classification / field stated in source

social entrepreneur supporting artisans in a Pakistani desert region; AAO EB-1A extraordinary-ability proceeding

Procedural posture

Appeal from denial of EB-1A; petitioner asserts awards, membership, published material, artistic display, and leading/critical role.

Operative disposition

Appeal dismissed

Final-merits status

The appeal establishes no more than one previously accepted criterion and does not establish the asserted additional criteria; AAO reserves the leading-role issue and dismisses for failure to meet the three-criterion threshold.

What the AAO decision addressed

The appeal establishes no more than one previously accepted criterion and does not establish the asserted additional criteria; AAO reserves the leading-role issue and dismisses for failure to meet the three-criterion threshold.

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 met — p. 4, p. 5

Published material about the person

Not met — p. 5, p. 6

Judging the work of others

Not considered — source PDF

Original contributions of major significance

Not considered — source PDF

Scholarly authorship

Not considered — source PDF

Artistic display or showcases

Not met — p. 6, p. 7

Leading or critical role

Not reached — p. 7

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 describes herself as a social entrepreneur and the Director found one of ten criteria, two short of the required three. (pp. 1–2); pages: 1; 2

  • claim: The record did not establish qualifying nationally/internationally recognized awards or outstanding-achievement membership. (pp. 3–5); pages: 3; 4; 5

  • claim: The published materials were not qualifying major-media coverage about the petitioner’s work, and the products/materials did not establish display at artistic exhibitions or showcases. (pp. 5–7); pages: 5; 6; 7

  • claim: The AAO states the petitioner met one criterion, claims only one more, and reserves consideration of the leading-role argument; appeal dismissed. (p. 7); pages: 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

  • 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

  • Entrepreneurship sector research

  • Threshold research

  • Final Merits research

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Primary source

Official USCIS AAO decision PDF for JAN162025_02B2203