AAO research
EB-1A original contributions of major significance — AAO decision OCT292009_05B2203: Awards: met as an athlete, not established as a coach; AAO explained…
Decision summary: AAO decision OCT292009_05B2203: Awards: met as an athlete, not established as a coach; AAO explained student-athlete awards may be comparable on a case-by-case basis only under the source’s analysis (pp. 5–6). Original contributions: not met as athlete or coach; evidence did not establish major significance in tennis coaching (pp. 9–10). Leading/critical role: no qualifying athlete role was shown; coaching role was separately evaluated (p. 10). The decision states she did not meet any other criterion as an athlete. (p. 5). Appeal dismissed; petitioner did not establish three criteria or acclaim as a tennis coach. (pp. 2–3, 10–11).
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_EB1A_source_reviewed. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | OCT292009_05B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | October 29, 2009 |
Classification / field stated in source | Assistant tennis coach seeking classification in athletics; appeal of Texas Service Center denial. |
Procedural posture | Assistant tennis coach seeking classification in athletics; appeal of Texas Service Center denial. Awards: met as an athlete, not established as a coach; AAO explained student-athlete awards may be comparable on a case-by-case basis only under the source’s analysis (pp. 5–6). Original contributions: not met as athlete or coach; evidence did not establish major significance in tennis coaching (pp. 9–10). Leading/critical role: no qualifying athlete role was shown; coaching role was separately evaluated (p. 10). The decision states she did not meet any other criterion as an athlete. (p. 5) |
Operative disposition | Awards: met as an athlete, not established as a coach; AAO explained student-athlete awards may be comparable on a case-by-case basis only under the source’s analysis (pp. 5–6). Original contributions: not met as athlete or coach; evidence did not establish major significance in tennis coaching (pp. 9–10). Leading/critical role: no qualifying athlete role was shown; coaching role was separately evaluated (p. 10). The decision states she did not meet any other criterion as an athlete. (p. 5) |
Final-merits status | No separate formal final-merits step; dismissed after criteria/acclaim analysis. (p. 11) |
What the AAO decision addressed
Appeal dismissed; petitioner did not establish three criteria or acclaim as a tennis coach. (pp. 2–3, 10–11)
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; Not met — source PDF |
Membership | Not coded — source PDF |
Published material about the person | Not coded — source PDF |
Judging the work of others | Not coded — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | not met |
Scholarly authorship | Not coded — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | unclear |
High salary or remuneration | Not coded — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not coded — source PDF |
Source holds and limits
Hold for full criterion-by-criterion editorial verification; adverse, non-precedent source.
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: If published, use a dated case-specific answer summary, procedural posture, criterion states supported by cited source pages, and direct USCIS PDF link. Do not present as precedent or imply the outcome applies generally. Specific case on comparing an assistant coach to the wider coaching field and separating player awards from coaching achievements.
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.
Related corpus research
Full-corpus research index
Original contributions of major significance research
Leading or critical role research
Athletics sector research
Major Significance research
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