AAO research
EB-1A membership — AAO decision MAR072022_01B2203: Appeal dismissed (p. 6). Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision MAR072022_01B2203: Appeal dismissed (p. 6). FA youth-coaching certificates were training credentials rather than a major internationally recognized one-time award; association membership, judging, and other claimed criteria were not supported by evidence of qualifying achievement/actual judging. Two additional criteria were expressly reserved once the initial three-criterion threshold failed. New documents were not considered because deficiencies had already been noticed (pp. 2–6).
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_source_reviewed. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | MAR072022_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | March 7, 2022 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A athletics appeal; petitioner is a soccer athlete and youth soccer coach. |
Procedural posture | Appeal of Texas Service Center denial; petitioner raised extraordinary-ability and alternative E21 theories; AAO dismissed (pp. 1–6). |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed (p. 6). |
Final-merits status | No separate Kazarian final-merits step; the initial threshold was not met and the aggregate assessment was adverse (p. 6). |
What the AAO decision addressed
FA youth-coaching certificates were training credentials rather than a major internationally recognized one-time award; association membership, judging, and other claimed criteria were not supported by evidence of qualifying achievement/actual judging. Two additional criteria were expressly reserved once the initial three-criterion threshold failed. New documents were not considered because deficiencies had already been noticed (pp. 2–6).
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 reached |
Membership | not met |
Published material about the person | Not coded — source PDF |
Judging the work of others | not met |
Original contributions of major significance | Not coded — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not coded — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | not reached |
High salary or remuneration | Not coded — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not coded — source PDF |
Source-cited findings recorded in review
Citations refer to physical PDF pages; every physical page visually inspected in page order.
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Specific athlete/coach example distinguishing coaching credentials from an internationally recognized award and a professional association membership criterion. Potential case page focused on credential-versus-award distinction; clarify unresolved/reserved categories. No CMS edits or publication were made.
Editorial use note: Potential case page focused on credential-versus-award distinction; clarify unresolved/reserved categories. No CMS edits or publication were made.
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
Judging the work of others research
Leading or critical role research
Athletics sector research
Threshold research
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