AAO research
EB-1A membership — AAO decision OCT152009_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision OCT152009_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. Original contributions and scholarly authorship were met, but fewer than three criteria were established and the overall record did not show sustained acclaim/top-of-field standing.
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: Source face identifies an AAO decision on a Form I-140 EB-1A extraordinary-ability petition. Field, posture, and final-merits distinctions are preserved in the source-grounded findings.. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | OCT152009_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | October 15, 2009 |
Classification / field stated in source | Form I-140 EB-1A extraordinary-ability decision under INA §203(b)(1)(A). |
Procedural posture | Appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial; appeal dismissed. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed |
Final-merits status | Legacy 2009 decision considers the record in the aggregate and finds acclaim/top-of-field standing unproven; it does not conduct a separate modern Kazarian final-merits step. |
What the AAO decision addressed
Original contributions and scholarly authorship were met, but fewer than three criteria were established and the overall record did not show sustained acclaim/top-of-field standing.
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 considered — source PDF |
Membership | |
Published material about the person | |
Judging the work of others | |
Original contributions of major significance | |
Scholarly authorship | |
Artistic display or showcases | Not considered — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | Not met — p. 8 |
High salary or remuneration | Not considered — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not considered — source PDF |
Source-cited findings recorded in review
claim: The petitioner was a synthetic organic chemist with a Ph.D. from Emory, postdoctoral work at TSRI, and a Scientist I position at a private pharmaceutical company at filing.; pages: 3; 8
claim: Sigma Xi membership did not require outstanding achievement; materials showed about 5,000 new members annually. The petitioner did not meet awards or published-material criteria; articles citing his work were about the citing authors’ results, not about him.; pages: 3; 4; 5
claim: Routine peer review and proofreader work did not establish judging; the AAO found his scholarly authorship criterion met.; pages: 5; 6; 7; 8; 9
claim: The AAO found original contributions met after considering specific reaction/synthesis work and supporting letters from recognized experts, including a Nobel Laureate and National Academy of Sciences member; claimed leading role at Sandia was not met.; pages: 7; 8
claim: The AAO nevertheless found the total record insufficient for sustained acclaim/top-of-field standing and dismissed the appeal.; pages: 9
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.
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
Judging the work of others research
Original contributions of major significance research
Scholarly authorship research
Artistic display or showcases research
Leading or critical role research
High salary or remuneration research
Commercial success in the performing arts research
Medicine sector research
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