AAO research
EB-1A leading or critical role — AAO decision JUN122009_02B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision JUN122009_02B2203: Appeal dismissed. The petitioner did not establish a major internationally recognized one-time award or three regulatory criteria; AAO’s closing acclaim discussion did not constitute a separate final-merits step. (pp. 3–9).
Source limitation: The review record contains a source hold or limitation. Read the limitation below before relying on any case detail; unresolved facts are not treated as findings.
Scope classification from review: in_scope_EB1A_source_reviewed. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | JUN122009_02B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | June 12, 2009 |
Classification / field stated in source | Arts; operatic/theatrical characterization artist (stage characterization and performance production work) |
Procedural posture | Appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial; AAO appellate review. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed. |
Final-merits status | No separate final-merits determination because the initial threshold was not met; the AAO stated the record did not establish sustained acclaim/top-of-field standing. (pp. 8–9) |
What the AAO decision addressed
Appeal dismissed. The petitioner did not establish a major internationally recognized one-time award or three regulatory criteria; AAO’s closing acclaim discussion did not constitute a separate final-merits step. (pp. 3–9)
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 coded — source PDF |
Published material about the person | Not coded — source PDF |
Judging the work of others | Not coded — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | Not met — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not coded — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | not met |
High salary or remuneration | Not met — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not met — source PDF |
Source holds and limits
The decision describes specialized “characterization” work, but redactions and older terminology limit a more specific occupational label; preserve this description rather than equating it with a modern job title. (pp. 2, 5–8)
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Cited case explainer can distinguish a nationally prominent award’s local prominence from field-level recognition and explain the evidence needed for commercial success.
Page-level source trail
Use the official PDF and the cited physical page numbers to check each statement.
Open the official USCIS decision PDF. Page-specific citations were not available in the normalized row.
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
Leading or critical role research
Performance sector research
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