AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision OCT162008_02B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: The AAO Appeal dismissed Although leading/critical role was met, the other discussed criteria failed and the formal final-merits analysis was unfavorable.
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 is an AAO decision involving an EB-1A extraordinary-ability petition.. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | OCT162008_02B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | October 16, 2008 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary ability (Form I-140) |
Procedural posture | AAO appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial of EB-1A Form I-140; nonprecedent decision. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed |
Final-merits status | The AAO expressly conducts final merits after finding only one criterion and concludes the evidence does not distinguish the petitioner as one of the small percentage at the top of the field. |
What the AAO decision addressed
Although leading/critical role was met, the other discussed criteria failed and the formal final-merits analysis was unfavorable.
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 | |
Membership | Not considered — source PDF |
Published material about the person | |
Judging the work of others | Not considered — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | |
Scholarly authorship | Not considered — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | |
Leading or critical role | met — p. 8 |
High salary or remuneration | |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not met — p. 9 |
Source-cited findings recorded in review
claim: The petitioner sought classification as a folk dancer/folk character artist and worked as an artistic director and principal dancer with the ZAP Dance Company.; evidence_pages: 2; 3
claim: The AAO found awards, published material, original contributions, artistic display, salary and commercial-success criteria unmet; it found a leading/critical role for the Russian National Ballet “Kostroma” met.; evidence_pages: 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9
claim: The decision conducted a separate formal final-merits determination and concluded the record did not establish sustained acclaim or top-of-field standing.; evidence_pages: 10; 11
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Eligible with caveats
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
Performance sector research
Threshold research
Final Merits research
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