AAO research
EB-1A published material about the person — AAO decision MAR312020_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official…
Decision summary: AAO decision MAR312020_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. The petitioner relied on journal articles citing the beneficiary’s papers and research letters; AAO found fewer than three criteria and concluded the beneficiary had not shown sustained acclaim/top-of-field status. (pp. 2–9).
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 | MAR312020_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | March 31, 2020 |
Classification / field stated in source | Sciences; quantitative researcher in theoretical condensed matter physics |
Procedural posture | Appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial; AAO de novo review. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed. |
Final-merits status | No formal final-merits determination; fewer than three criteria were established. (pp. 8–9) |
What the AAO decision addressed
The petitioner relied on journal articles citing the beneficiary’s papers and research letters; AAO found fewer than three criteria and concluded the beneficiary had not shown sustained acclaim/top-of-field status. (pp. 2–9)
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 coded — source PDF |
Membership | Not coded — source PDF |
Published material about the person | not met |
Judging the work of others | Not coded — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | Not met — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | met — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | Not coded — source PDF |
High salary or remuneration | Not met — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not coded — source PDF |
Source holds and limits
Avoid representing research novelty or citations as accepted field-wide impact; AAO found impact not established. (pp. 3–7)
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Useful source-cited explainer on why citations in other papers are not published material about a researcher, and publication alone does not establish major significance.
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.
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