AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision MAR202009_02B2203: Appeal sustained; petition approved. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision MAR202009_02B2203: Appeal sustained; petition approved. AAO finds qualifying lesser awards, published material, and judging evidence and concludes the totality establishes sustained national acclaim, top-of-field standing, intent to continue work, and prospective U.S. benefit.
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; verified in source review. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | MAR202009_02B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | March 20, 2009 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary ability; field: business operations specialist in video-game music industry. |
Procedural posture | Appeal; legacy AAO approval decision. |
Operative disposition | Appeal sustained; petition approved. |
Final-merits status | reached and favorable; totality establishes extraordinary ability and statutory/regulatory eligibility. |
What the AAO decision addressed
AAO finds qualifying lesser awards, published material, and judging evidence and concludes the totality establishes sustained national acclaim, top-of-field standing, intent to continue work, and prospective U.S. benefit.
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 coded — source PDF |
Published material about the person | met — source PDF |
Judging the work of others | met — source PDF |
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 coded — source PDF |
High salary or remuneration | Not coded — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not coded — source PDF |
Source holds and limits
"No source hold; complete. Legacy format and redactions; decision is fact-specific and predates current precedent developments."
Source-cited findings recorded in review
PDF p. 1: Cover identifies appeal and EB-1 extraordinary-ability petition.
PDF p. 2: Discussion of award evidence, including GANG and Game Developers Conference awards; qualifying recognition found.
PDF p. 3: Published coverage and judging evidence analyzed; criteria found met.
PDF p. 4: Totality finds sustained national acclaim and extraordinary ability; continue-work and U.S.-benefit requirements satisfied; order approves petition.
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Useful approval comparator for its specific entertainment-industry evidence across awards, press, and judging; useful to contrast evidence bundles, not to imply current outcomes.
Page-level source trail
Use the official PDF and the cited physical page numbers to check each statement.
PDF page 1 — Cover identifies appeal and EB-1 extraordinary-ability petition.
PDF page 3 — Published coverage and judging evidence analyzed; criteria found met.
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
Published material about the person research
Judging the work of others research
Entrepreneurship sector research
Performance sector research
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