AAO research
EB-1A leading or critical role — AAO decision OCT112023_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision OCT112023_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. AAO agreed that the Petitioner performed a leading/critical role for a distinguished organization but withdrew the Director’s findings for judging and high salary; original contributions also failed; scholarly-article claim was reserved. The AAO gave an adverse aggregate assessment while saying a formal final-merits determination was unnecessary. (pp. 1–8).
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 | OCT112023_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | October 11, 2023 |
Classification / field stated in source | Business; gender, diversity, and inclusion specialist / UN program and partnerships manager |
Procedural posture | Appeal of Nebraska Service Center I-140 denial after reopening and second denial; AAO de novo review. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed. |
Final-merits status | Formal Kazarian final-merits determination not reached; AAO nevertheless stated aggregate record did not support sustained acclaim/top-of-field standing. (p. 8) |
What the AAO decision addressed
AAO agreed that the Petitioner performed a leading/critical role for a distinguished organization but withdrew the Director’s findings for judging and high salary; original contributions also failed; scholarly-article claim was reserved. The AAO gave an adverse aggregate assessment while saying a formal final-merits determination was unnecessary. (pp. 1–8)
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 coded — source PDF |
Judging the work of others | Not met — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | Not met — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not reached — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | met |
High salary or remuneration | Not met — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not coded — source PDF |
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Create a decision-specific checklist for documentary proof of completed judging, distinguishing UN employer-role evidence from broader field impact and occupation-matched salary comparisons.
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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