AAO research

AAO EB-1A decision JUN212023_01B2203: Published material about the person

AAO EB-1A decision JUN212023_01B2203: Published material about the person

EB-1A published material about the person — AAO decision JUN212023_01B2203: Director decision withdrawn; appeal sustained; petition approved. Review…

Decision summary: AAO decision JUN212023_01B2203: Director decision withdrawn; appeal sustained; petition approved. AAO found an MLB Player of the Week award, extensive sports-media coverage, and salaries of $2.45M in 2022 and $3.55M in 2023. It also relied on performance statistics, professional assessments, and sustained recognition in the field to find final merits 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: EB-1A merits appeal and approval, including initial threshold and final merits.. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.

Decision snapshot

Decision ID

JUN212023_01B2203

Decision date as printed

June 21, 2023

Classification / field stated in source

EB-1A appeal sustained; petition approved

Procedural posture

Texas Service Center found no initial criteria threshold. On de novo review AAO found the awards, published-material, and high-salary criteria met, then evaluated final merits.

Operative disposition

Director decision withdrawn; appeal sustained; petition approved.

Final-merits status

Reached; AAO found sustained acclaim/top-of-field standing and approved.

What the AAO decision addressed

AAO found an MLB Player of the Week award, extensive sports-media coverage, and salaries of $2.45M in 2022 and $3.55M in 2023. It also relied on performance statistics, professional assessments, and sustained recognition in the field to find final merits 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

met — source PDF

Membership

Not reached — source PDF

Published material about the person

met
AAO found sports-media coverage met criterion. — p. 2

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

Not reached — source PDF

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 dates appeal June 21, 2023 and identifies petitioner as professional baseball player.; pages: 1

  • claim: AAO found awards criterion met based on MLB Player of the Week award, published-material criterion met based on sports-media coverage, and high-salary criterion met based on MLB contracts.; pages: 2

  • claim: AAO considered outfielder performance, statistics, media coverage, and professional assessments in final-merits totality.; pages: 3

  • claim: AAO found sustained national acclaim, top-of-field standing, continued work, and prospective U.S. benefit; appeal sustained.; pages: 3

How this record may be used in research

Comparison scope: Eligible as an affirmative case with concrete criteria, final-merits analysis, and date-specific evidence.

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

  • Athletics sector research

  • Threshold research

  • Final Merits research

  • Coverage research

Browse the AAO decision index · Read EB-1A evidence guides · Review source and correction methodology.

Primary source

Official USCIS AAO decision PDF for JUN212023_01B2203