AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision NOV212024_03B2203: dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision NOV212024_03B2203: dismissed. The AAO found the judging criterion met because Brazilian jiu-jitsu referees exercise subjective judgment. The record satisfied at least three criteria, but did not establish sustained national/international acclaim or top-of-field standing: competition results lacked sufficient context across years and placements, and post-filing activity could not establish eligibility at filing.
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: The source identifies an EB-1A petition appeal or motion. The 2015 motion is in scope for procedural analysis, not as a new merits decision.. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | NOV212024_03B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | November 21, 2024 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary-ability petition/appeal |
Procedural posture | EB-1A appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial; appeal dismissed after final-merits review. |
Operative disposition | dismissed |
Final-merits status | AAO conducted final merits and found totality did not establish sustained national/international acclaim or that the petitioner was among the small percentage at the very top. |
What the AAO decision addressed
The AAO found the judging criterion met because Brazilian jiu-jitsu referees exercise subjective judgment. The record satisfied at least three criteria, but did not establish sustained national/international acclaim or top-of-field standing: competition results lacked sufficient context across years and placements, and post-filing activity could not establish eligibility at filing.
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 — p. 2 |
Membership | met — p. 2 |
Published material about the person | Not coded — source PDF |
Judging the work of others | met — p. 3 |
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-cited findings recorded in review
claim: The Director found awards and membership criteria met but denied; on appeal the petitioner additionally argued that Brazilian jiu-jitsu refereeing qualified as judging.; pages: 1; 2
claim: AAO found Brazilian jiu-jitsu referees exercise discretion and subjective judgment in scoring and determining match winners, satisfying the judging criterion.; pages: 3
claim: Although the record met at least three criteria, the AAO found the totality insufficient to show sustained acclaim; belt rank alone did not establish top-of-field standing.; pages: 3; 4; 6
claim: Competition records showed first-place finishes in some belt/weight categories in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, and 2023, but omitted years and non-first-place results were not contextualized; 2024 post-filing results could not establish eligibility at filing.; pages: 4; 5
claim: The AAO dismissed the appeal after final-merits review.; pages: 6
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Eligible for individual case discussion
Page-level source trail
Use the official PDF and the cited physical page numbers to check each statement.
PDF page 1 — Caption/date/classification/field/posture visually checked.
PDF page 6 — Final source page visually checked; operative order and outcome are pinpointed above.
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
Athletics sector research
Browse the AAO decision index · Read EB-1A evidence guides · Review source and correction methodology.