AAO research
EB-1A awards — AAO decision SEP232015_01B2203: Appeal sustained. Review source status, procedural posture and the official USCIS PDF.
Decision summary: AAO decision SEP232015_01B2203: Appeal sustained. AAO found four regulatory criteria met: qualifying awards, published material, judging, and display of work. It concluded the petitioner established sustained acclaim and top-of-field standing; petition approved.
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 | SEP232015_01B2203 |
|---|---|
Decision date as printed | September 23, 2015 |
Classification / field stated in source | photography / visual arts |
Procedural posture | Appeal from Texas Service Center denial. |
Operative disposition | Appeal sustained. |
Final-merits status | "met" |
What the AAO decision addressed
AAO found four regulatory criteria met: qualifying awards, published material, judging, and display of work. It concluded the petitioner established sustained acclaim and top-of-field standing; petition approved.
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 |
Membership | Not coded — source PDF |
Published material about the person | met |
Judging the work of others | met |
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 coded — source PDF |
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. 1–5; criteria pp. 2–4; merits/order pp. 4–5.
How this record may be used in research
Comparison scope: Positive photography comparator for awards, professional coverage, judging, and recognized exhibitions combined with explicit final-merits reasoning; cite specific pages and preserve record-specific limits. 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 identifies Matter of L-A-T-, photographer and Texas appeal.
PDF page 2 — Explains field and Kazarian framework; begins award criterion.
PDF page 3 — Finds awards, published-material, judging, and display evidence meets four criteria.
PDF page 4 — Final merits totality discusses acclaim and accomplishments; conclusion begins.
PDF page 5 — Finds top-of-field sustained acclaim, meets burden, sustains appeal.
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
Published material about the person research
Judging the work of others research
Performance sector research
Coverage research
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