AAO research
EB-1A membership — AAO decision SEP162022_02B2203: Appeal sustained. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision SEP162022_02B2203: Appeal sustained. AAO found judging, published material and original contributions criteria established and found totality supported sustained acclaim and top-of-field status. Membership finding was not sustained because association board service was not equivalent to selective membership requiring outstanding achievement.
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; verified in source review. This is a source-review label, not a legal conclusion.
Decision snapshot
Decision ID | SEP162022_02B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | September 16, 2022 |
Classification / field stated in source | EB-1A extraordinary ability; field: oil and gas industry / executive business leadership. |
Procedural posture | Appeal from Texas Service Center denial; Director found three criteria and denied on final merits. |
Operative disposition | Appeal sustained. |
Final-merits status | "Reached and favorable; AAO sustained appeal." |
What the AAO decision addressed
AAO found judging, published material and original contributions criteria established and found totality supported sustained acclaim and top-of-field status. Membership finding was not sustained because association board service was not equivalent to selective membership requiring outstanding achievement.
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 met |
Published material about the person | met |
Judging the work of others | met |
Original contributions of major significance | met |
Scholarly authorship | Not coded — source PDF |
Artistic display or showcases | Not coded — source PDF |
Leading or critical role | met |
High salary or remuneration | Not coded — source PDF |
Commercial success in the performing arts | Not coded — source PDF |
Source-cited findings recorded in review
pp. 1–4; criteria p. 2, totality pp. 3–4 and operative order p. 4.
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Positive comparator for business executives where independently documented industry impact, senior roles and judging/evaluation combine; note trade-association board service alone was not qualifying membership. eligible_for_editorial_review_with_citations
Editorial use note: eligible_for_editorial_review_with_citations
Page-level source trail
Use the official PDF and the cited physical page numbers to check each statement.
PDF page 1 — Cover; executive in oil and gas; appeal from denial based on adverse final merits.
PDF page 4 — Reviews concrete business/economic impact and concludes eligibility; appeal sustained.
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
Membership research
Published material about the person research
Judging the work of others research
Original contributions of major significance research
Leading or critical role research
Entrepreneurship sector research
Final Merits research
Browse the AAO decision index · Read EB-1A evidence guides · Review source and correction methodology.