All Cases

13 cases · 0 approved / sustained · 11 denied / dismissed · 2 remanded

Project Manager

Others · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A dismissed
2025-04-10
The Petitioner failed to satisfy any of the three claimed EB-1A criteria. The Letter of Recognition from the Mayor of a Kazakhstan city was not considered a nationally or internationally recognized award for excellence under 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(i). Because the Petitioner failed to meet the first criterion, the remaining claims for original contributions and leading roles were not fully adjudicated as they would not change the outcome.

Engineer

Engineering · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A rfe dismissed
New York 2025-03-31
The Petitioner did not meet any of the 10 EB-1A criteria; specifically, academic honors from Kazakhstan did not qualify as national/international awards, and memberships in IEEE and IISE did not require outstanding achievements. Scholarly articles were not provided or proven to be in major media, and roles as an assembler or ride operator were not leading or critical. No specific citation or publication counts were validated as meeting the regulatory standards.

Coach

Healthcare · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A dismissed
2025-01-30
The motion to reopen was dismissed because new evidence for awards, memberships, original contributions, and leading role criteria did not address prior deficiencies or comply with translation requirements. Specifically, awards lacked proof of significance, memberships lacked proof of outstanding achievement requirements, original contributions evidence did not mention the Petitioner, and leading role evidence lacked explanation of relevancy or organizational distinction. The motion to reconsider was dismissed as the Petitioner failed to establish the prior decision was based on an incorrect application of law or policy, and the standard of proof applied was deemed correct.

Paralegal

Legal Services · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A remanded
New York 2025-01-30
The Director denied the petition because the petitioner did not establish eligibility under at least three of the ten criteria, specifically rejecting claims for awards and published material. Additionally, the Director concluded that the practice of law does not fall within the enumerated fields for extraordinary ability. The AAO withdrew this decision, agreeing with the petitioner that law can qualify under 'science or art' or 'business', and remanded the case for a merits determination on the remaining four claimed criteria.

Accountant

Financial Services · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A rfe dismissed
Kazakhstan 2025-01-15
The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to demonstrate she met the high salary criterion (8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(ix)). Although her monthly salary was higher than the average for an accountant in Kazakhstan, her position as 'Regional Accounting Manager' involved significant management duties beyond just accounting tasks. Therefore, the comparative salary data for 'accountants' was deemed inapplicable to her actual role, leading to insufficient evidence for the high salary criterion.

Consultant

Logistics · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A dismissed
Florida 2025-01-10
The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to meet the minimum three evidentiary criteria for extraordinary ability. Specifically, the 'lesser nationally or internationally recognized awards' criterion was not met because the 'gold quality' diploma was issued to his company, not him personally, and lacked evidence of national or international recognition. Other claimed criteria (original contributions, leading role) were not evaluated due to the failure to meet the minimum threshold.

Others

Performing Arts · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A rfe dismissed
2025-01-08
The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to demonstrate eligibility under at least three of the ten EB-1A criteria. Specifically, the Petitioner did not establish that her awards were nationally or internationally recognized for excellence in acting, that her association memberships required outstanding achievements as judged by experts, that published materials about her were in major media, that her contributions were original and of major significance, or that her salary was high relative to others in the field. The AAO found the evidence insufficient to show sustained national or international acclaim and that she is among the small percentage at the very top of her field.

Coach

Sports · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A dismissed
2024-09-30
The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to demonstrate eligibility for extraordinary ability. The AAO found the Petitioner only met one of the ten regulatory criteria (judging) and did not establish the required three criteria. Specifically, the Petitioner's 'Diploma' and 'Letter of Appreciation' were not shown to be nationally or internationally recognized awards. Memberships in the Kazakhstan Federation of Boxing (KFB) and the Oidene Hand-to-Hand Combat Federation (OHCF) did not require outstanding achievements judged by experts. Original contributions, such as the 'Methodological Manual for Hand-to-Hand Fighting,' were not shown to be of major significance beyond the Petitioner's immediate sphere. The master class instruction was not considered an artistic exhibition, and the organizations for which the Petitioner claimed a leading role (OHCF, Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Security Service of the Republic of Kazakhstan) were not proven to have a distinguished reputation. The Petitioner also did not contest the Director's finding that he did not meet the high salary criterion.

Others

Information Technology · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A remanded
2024-08-28
The Petitioner met the published material criterion (8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(iii)) through interviews in Forbes Kazakhstan and Tech Times, and the scholarly articles criterion (8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(vi)) with articles in Habr.com and Kommersant written for learned persons. Combined with the artistic exhibitions criterion (8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(vii)), the Petitioner satisfied the minimum of three criteria. The matter was remanded to evaluate if the Petitioner is among the small percentage at the top of the field.

Coach

Sports · Kazakhstan

USCIS EB-1A dismissed
Texas 2024-07-16
The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner only met two of the ten initial evidentiary criteria (judging and leading/critical role), failing to reach the minimum requirement of three. Specifically, the Petitioner failed to prove that national team membership qualified as an 'association' membership or that coaching awards were unavailable to justify the use of 'comparable evidence' for student awards.