AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision NOV192019_01B2203: Appeal dismissed (p. 6). Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision NOV192019_01B2203: Appeal dismissed (p. 6). AAO found no qualifying award and withdrew the Director’s judging finding because the petitioner enforced rules and supervised competition logistics rather than evaluating competitors’ work/skills. Membership remained met, leaving fewer than three criteria. Final merits was not reached (pp. 2–6).
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 | NOV192019_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | November 19, 2019 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary ability in athletics; petitioner is a rower (p. 1). |
Procedural posture | Appeal of Texas Service Center denial; Director found membership and judging criteria met; petitioner argued awards and added evidence (pp. 1–2). |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed (p. 6). |
Final-merits status | Not coded in the normalized review fields |
What the AAO decision addressed
AAO found no qualifying award and withdrew the Director’s judging finding because the petitioner enforced rules and supervised competition logistics rather than evaluating competitors’ work/skills. Membership remained met, leaving fewer than three criteria. Final merits was not reached (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 met |
Membership | met |
Published material about the person | Not coded — source PDF |
Judging the work of others | Not 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
"Identity and competition names are redacted; membership is met but not sufficient; do not describe all refereeing as categorically non-qualifying."
Source-cited findings recorded in review
p1: Cover identifies rower, appeal, denial and threshold.; p2: AAO reviews criteria, preserves membership finding, rejects awards and withdraws judging finding.; p3: Competition finishes and award documentation; national/international recognition not shown.; p4: News article and circulation evidence inadequate; judging criterion standard applied.; p5: Officials enforce event rules rather than evaluate competitors; criterion withdrawn; final merits not required.; p6: Appeal dismissed; footnote says prospective-benefit question not reached.
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Useful sports/judging comparison: refereeing or enforcing rules is distinct from judging competitors’ work under the criterion. Eligible for a narrow case page on rowing awards and judging, with page-cited distinction and procedural posture.
Editorial use note: Eligible for a narrow case page on rowing awards and judging, with page-cited distinction and procedural posture.
Page-level source trail
Use the official PDF and the cited physical page numbers to check each statement.
PDF page 1 — Cover identifies rower, appeal, denial and threshold.
PDF page 4 — News article and circulation evidence inadequate; judging criterion standard applied.
PDF page 6 — Appeal dismissed; footnote says prospective-benefit question not reached.
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
Athletics sector research
Final Merits research
Browse the AAO decision index · Read EB-1A evidence guides · Review source and correction methodology.