AAO research
EB-1A leading or critical role — AAO decision JAN222020_03B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision JAN222020_03B2203: Appeal dismissed. Evidence does not establish a qualifying award personally received by beneficiary; project/company nominations and team recognition are insufficient on this record. Final merits fails.
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_EB1A_AAO_decision. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | JAN222020_03B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | January 22, 2020 |
Classification / field stated in source | Appeal dismissed. |
Procedural posture | Appeal from denial; AAO reviews award criterion and final merits. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed. |
Final-merits status | Unfavorable; sustained acclaim or top-of-field standing not established. |
What the AAO decision addressed
Evidence does not establish a qualifying award personally received by beneficiary; project/company nominations and team recognition are insufficient on this record. Final merits fails.
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 — source PDF |
Membership | Not reached — source PDF |
Published material about the person | Not reached |
Judging the work of others | Not reached — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | Not reached — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not reached — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | met |
High salary or remuneration | met — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not reached — source PDF |
Source-cited findings recorded in review
claim: Cover: Jan. 22, 2020; design company petitions for visual designer; Director found two criteria.; pages: 1
claim: AAO identifies beneficiary as creative design producer and the criteria at issue.; pages: 2
claim: AAO reviews claimed awards and evidence of who received them.; pages: 3
claim: AAO finds no qualifying one-time achievement/award and denies appeal after final-merits review.; pages: 4
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: eligible_for_narrow_fact_grounded_content: True; must_preserve_procedural_posture: True; recommended_use: Narrow negative design-award example distinguishing nominations/team recognition from awards to an individual.
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
Published material about the person research
Leading or critical role research
Performance sector research
Final Merits research
Browse the AAO decision index · Read EB-1A evidence guides · Review source and correction methodology.