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AAO appeal denial of EB-1A petition

Updated: Author: Alina Kanametova

Reference Guides 9 pages Anonymized Access on request

A non-precedent AAO decision on an appeal from a Texas Service Center denial of a Form I-140 extraordinary ability petition in the sciences. It explains the…

EB-1A O-1 EB-2 NIW Petition

About this document

A non-precedent AAO decision on an appeal from a Texas Service Center denial of a Form I-140 extraordinary ability petition in the sciences. It explains the EB-1A initial evidence test, then reviews membership, published material, and original contributions and finds the record does not show at least three criteria were met. The appeal is dismissed and the final merits stage is reserved.

Key points

  • Form I-140 for extraordinary ability in the sciences was denied and appealed.
  • The record had no major internationally recognized award.
  • Judging and authorship criteria were acknowledged as met, but not enough overall.
  • Membership evidence failed because association admission and outstanding-achievement requirements were not shown.
  • Published material evidence was rejected because the items were about topics, not about the applicant.
  • Original-contribution evidence relied on articles, citations, training, and letters, but major significance was not shown.
  • The opinion says 73 cumulative citations did not establish field-wide major significance.
  • The appeal is dismissed and the final merits determination is reserved.

What is inside

  1. Membership criterion
  2. Published material criterion
  3. Original contributions criterion

When it helps

A denial on the EB-1A initial evidence step. It shows how the decision analyzes the regulatory criteria and why the record was found insufficient before final merits review.

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Source: Community (anonymized). The material opens on the site. Reference material, not legal advice.

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