AAO research
EB-1A leading or critical role — AAO decision SEP152022_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision SEP152022_01B2203: Appeal dismissed. AAO agreed that judging and artistic display were met, but the other five claimed criteria were not; fewer than three criteria were established. (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 | SEP152022_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | September 15, 2022 |
Classification / field stated in source | Arts; wedding photographer and photography-studio operator |
Procedural posture | Appeal of Nebraska Service Center denial; AAO de novo review. |
Operative disposition | Appeal dismissed. |
Final-merits status | Formal Kazarian final-merits determination not reached because only two criteria were met; AAO nevertheless reviewed the record in the aggregate and found acclaim insufficient. (p. 8) |
What the AAO decision addressed
Appeal dismissed. AAO agreed that judging and artistic display were met, but the other five claimed criteria were not; fewer than three criteria were established. (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 met — source PDF |
Membership | Not met — source PDF |
Published material about the person | Not met — source PDF |
Judging the work of others | met — source PDF |
Original contributions of major significance | Not coded — source PDF |
Scholarly authorship | Not coded — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | not met |
High salary or remuneration | Not met — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not coded — source PDF |
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: A source-led answer page can distinguish image publication from material about a photographer, showcase evidence from ordinary client work, and billed package prices from personal remuneration.
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
Performance sector research
Coverage research
Browse the AAO decision index · Read EB-1A evidence guides · Review source and correction methodology.