AAO research

AAO EB-1A decision MAY312018_02B2203: Awards

AAO EB-1A decision MAY312018_02B2203: Awards

EB-1A awards — AAO decision MAY312018_02B2203: Appeal denied. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.

Decision summary: AAO decision MAY312018_02B2203: Appeal denied. No one-time achievement or three qualifying criteria; aggregate evidence did not establish required expertise/acclaim.

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. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.

Decision snapshot

Decision ID

MAY312018_02B2203

Decision date as printed

May 31, 2018

Classification / field stated in source

Matter of A-C-S-T-, EB-1A appeal / non-precedent

Procedural posture

Appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial; de novo review denies appeal.

Operative disposition

Appeal denied.

Final-merits status

Not reached_with_aggregate_unfavorable_review

What the AAO decision addressed

No one-time achievement or three qualifying criteria; aggregate evidence did not establish required expertise/acclaim.

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 met
Team championship awards attributable but not shown nationally/internationally recognized as tennis excellence; trainees’ awards not petitioner’s. — p. 3

Membership

Not met
Tennis certifications did not prove outstanding-achievement membership standards. — p. 3, p. 4

Published material about the person

Not met
Article was about petitioner, but publication/media readership was not shown to be major relative to similar media. — p. 4

Judging the work of others

Not coded — 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 met
Distinguished team reputation supported, but generic “crucial/key” phrases lacked detail on petitioner’s role and contribution compared with team. — p. 5

High salary or remuneration

Not coded — source PDF

Commercial success in the performing arts

Not coded — source PDF

Source holds and limits

"No completeness hold."

Source-cited findings recorded in review

  • claim: Petitioner was member of men’s tennis team that won a championship and was runner-up; AAO accepted team awards as received by petitioner but found broader national/international recognition unproven.; pages: 3

  • claim: Tennis coaching certifications/memberships did not require outstanding achievements judged by recognized experts.; pages: 3; 4

  • claim: Spanish newspaper article was about petitioner and tennis career/transition to coaching, but media significance was not established relative to national publications.; pages: 4

  • claim: Team distinguished reputation was supported, but individual leadership/criticality was not; fewer than three criteria and final merits unfavorable.; pages: 5; 6

How this record may be used in research

Comparison scope: individual_case_comparison_eligible

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

  • Published material about the person research

  • Leading or critical role research

  • Athletics sector research

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

Primary source

Official USCIS AAO decision PDF for MAY312018_02B2203