AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision MAY172023_01B2203: Appeal dismissed (physical p. 6). Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision MAY172023_01B2203: Appeal dismissed (physical p. 6). Leading/critical role was met. Membership in coaching associations was not shown to require expert-judged outstanding achievements; evidence of technical coach duties did not establish judging; letters about coaching strategies did not establish original contributions of major significance. Award claim was not pursued on appeal. Fewer than three criteria were established (pp. 2–5).
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 | MAY172023_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | May 17, 2023 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A athletics; soccer academy petitioner seeks to employ a soccer coach/beneficiary; appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial. |
Procedural posture | Appeal; Director found leading/critical role, which AAO accepted; appeal challenges membership, judging, and original contributions. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed (physical p. 6). |
Final-merits status | Not reached as a full final-merits determination because three threshold criteria were not met; aggregate conclusion states record did not establish sustained acclaim/top-of-field standing (pp. 5–6). |
What the AAO decision addressed
Leading/critical role was met. Membership in coaching associations was not shown to require expert-judged outstanding achievements; evidence of technical coach duties did not establish judging; letters about coaching strategies did not establish original contributions of major significance. Award claim was not pursued on appeal. Fewer than three criteria were established (pp. 2–5).
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 | abandoned |
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 met |
Scholarly authorship | Not coded — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | met |
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 page numbers; pages were visually inspected in source order.
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Good soccer-coach case on distinction between qualifying leadership and membership/judging/contribution criteria. Avoid combining with other soccer cases absent matching identity or factual fit. Potential individual case page with lead role as the only accepted criterion.
Editorial use note: Potential individual case page with lead role as the only accepted criterion.
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
Original contributions of major significance research
Leading or critical role research
Athletics sector research
Major Significance research
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