AAO research

AAO EB-1A decision SEP082015_02B2203: Leading or critical role

AAO EB-1A decision SEP082015_02B2203: Leading or critical role

EB-1A leading or critical role — AAO decision SEP082015_02B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.

Decision summary: AAO decision SEP082015_02B2203: Appeal dismissed. Judging and scholarly authorship were established, but original contributions and leading/critical role were not; fewer than three criteria were met. (pp. 2–8).

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

SEP082015_02B2203

Decision date as printed

September 8, 2015

Classification / field stated in source

Sciences; hematology/oncology and cardiovascular-disease epidemiology researcher

Procedural posture

Appeal of Texas Service Center denial; AAO appellate review.

Operative disposition

Appeal dismissed.

Final-merits status

Formal final-merits determination not reached because fewer than three initial criteria were satisfied; AAO said its aggregate review also did not support the required expertise/acclaim. (p. 8)

What the AAO decision addressed

Appeal dismissed. Judging and scholarly authorship were established, but original contributions and leading/critical role were not; fewer than three criteria were met. (pp. 2–8)

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

met — source PDF

Original contributions of major significance

Not met — source PDF

Scholarly authorship

met — source PDF

Artistic display or showcases

Not coded — source PDF

Leading or critical role

not met
Assistant-professor/postdoctoral and lab/team leadership evidence did not show impact on an organization’s outcomes or a distinguished team/unit reputation. (pp. 6–7) — source PDF

High salary or remuneration

Not coded — source PDF

Commercial success in the performing arts

Not coded — source PDF

How this record may be used in research

Comparison scope: Explain that original research/patents and useful findings are distinct from already demonstrated major field impact; article publication and judging can satisfy separate initial criteria.

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

  • Leading or critical role research

  • Medicine sector research

Browse the AAO decision index · Read EB-1A evidence guides · Review source and correction methodology.

Primary source

Official USCIS AAO decision PDF for SEP082015_02B2203