EB-1ABusiness and managementIndividualDecided December 2019Dismissed
Outcome: Dismissed
DEC302019_01B2203
High salaryMetLeading or critical roleMetJudgingNot metMembershipNot metOriginal contributionsNot metPublished materialNot metScholarly articlesNot metFinal meritsNot met
Our summary
A human resources manager at a cryptocurrency finance company sought EB-1A extraordinary ability classification. Petitioner claimed seven criteria; director found two met. AAO affirmed, rejecting membership in professional associations, judging participation, and scholarly articles as insufficiently documented, and found the aggregate record did not demonstrate the sustained acclaim required.
Official PDF
Official PDF ↗Published by USCIS. The summary is ours, in our own words; the decision text is on uscis.gov.
What the AAO accepted
- High salary · Director found petitioner satisfied this criterion commanding high remuneration
- Leading or critical role · Director found petitioner satisfied this criterion as head of people at financial company
What was missing
- Judging · Ambassador program interviews do not constitute judging specific work product like dissertations
- Membership · Mentoring program and ambassador program are not associations requiring outstanding achievements judged by experts
- Original contributions · Director found this criterion not satisfied; petitioner did not rebut on appeal
- Published material · Director found this criterion not satisfied; petitioner did not rebut on appeal
- Scholarly articles · Articles in Data Driven Investor do not qualify as scholarly articles in major publications
- Final merits · Record does not support finding of sustained national or international acclaim required
Criteria
| Criterion | Reading | Why |
|---|---|---|
 High salary | Met | Director found petitioner satisfied this criterion commanding high remuneration |
 Leading or critical role | Met | Director found petitioner satisfied this criterion as head of people at financial company |
 Judging | Not met | Ambassador program interviews do not constitute judging specific work product like dissertations |
 Membership | Not met | Mentoring program and ambassador program are not associations requiring outstanding achievements judged by experts |
 Original contributions | Not met | Director found this criterion not satisfied; petitioner did not rebut on appeal |
 Published material | Not met | Director found this criterion not satisfied; petitioner did not rebut on appeal |
 Scholarly articles | Not met | Articles in Data Driven Investor do not qualify as scholarly articles in major publications |
 Final merits | Not met | Record does not support finding of sustained national or international acclaim required |
A published decision describes one case. It is not legal advice and not a prediction for yours.