AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision SEP142022_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: The AAO Appeal dismissed Two criteria (awards and judging) are met, membership and leading/critical role are not; the published-material claim was waived. The three-criterion threshold fails. AAO expressly says no Kazarian final-merits determination is needed, while separately advising that aggregate acclaim is insufficient.
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: The source cover identifies an EB-1A/extraordinary-ability Form I-140 matter under INA section 203(b)(1)(A).. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | SEP142022_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | 2022-09-14 |
Classification / field stated in source | Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete and coach; EB-1A petition |
Procedural posture | Appeal from denial; AAO agrees lesser awards and judging are met; membership and leading/critical role are not met; published-material claim is expressly waived. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed |
Final-merits status | Two criteria (awards and judging) are met, membership and leading/critical role are not; the published-material claim was waived. The three-criterion threshold fails. AAO expressly says no Kazarian final-merits determination is needed, while separately advising that aggregate acclaim is insufficient. |
What the AAO decision addressed
Two criteria (awards and judging) are met, membership and leading/critical role are not; the published-material claim was waived. The three-criterion threshold fails. AAO expressly says no Kazarian final-merits determination is needed, while separately advising that aggregate acclaim is insufficient.
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 — p. 2 |
Membership | |
Published material about the person | |
Judging the work of others | met — p. 2 |
Original contributions of major significance | Not considered — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not considered — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not considered — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | |
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: Petitioner is a competitive Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete and coach; Director found awards and judging met, and AAO agrees.; pages: 1; 2
claim: Petitioner did not pursue the published-material claim on appeal; AAO deems that issue waived.; pages: 2; 3
claim: IBJJF black-belt membership did not meet the membership criterion on this record, including timing and selection requirements.; pages: 3; 4; 5
claim: Leading/critical role evidence did not establish the petitioner’s significant organizational impact or the academy’s distinguished reputation.; pages: 5; 6
claim: AAO says fewer than three criteria were established; no formal final-merits determination is required, although aggregate acclaim is discussed.; pages: 7
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
Athletics sector research
Threshold research
Final Merits research
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