EB-1A AAO decisions, explained.

Extraordinary is a public library of practical explanations of EB-1A AAO non-precedent decisions: what the AAO accepted, what it rejected, and what the reasoning teaches about evidence.

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ILLUSTRATIVE EVIDENCE ISSUE

RESEARCH EXAMPLE

Why evidence fails

Decision issue

Original contributions and published material

Evidence question

What shows why this contribution mattered in the field?

Reader takeaway

Evidence must prove impact beyond participation or prestige.

Browse by issue

Original contributions

Awards

Press

Judging

Final merits

Non-precedent decisions are not binding, but they reveal recurring AAO reasoning patterns.

AAO DECISION LIBRARY

Read decisions by issue, criterion, and evidence pattern.

Start with the recurring AAO reasoning patterns that decide EB-1A appeals: criteria threshold, original contributions, published material, judging, critical role, and final merits.

CRITERIA

Criterion decisions

Awards, published material, judging, original contributions, critical role, and scholarly articles.

Browse by EB-1A criterion.

DENIAL PATTERNS

Where AAO says no

Prestige, participation, citations, employer context, and recommendation letters are often not enough.

Read the recurring failure modes.

FINAL MERITS

After the criteria count

How the AAO evaluates sustained acclaim after individual regulatory criteria are counted.

Understand the second-step analysis.

Built around AAO reasoning, not generic advice

Each article explains what the AAO actually said, why the evidence succeeded or failed, and what the decision teaches about EB-1A proof.

Company Prestige Is Not Enough for EB-1A

EB-1A Final Merits Risk

Critical Role Evidence for EB-1A

When Recommendation Letters Are Weak Evidence

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Send an article URL, the statement you are questioning, and the primary source that supports a correction. Use this form for library feedback and source questions.

Corrections and source questions

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Help improve the library

Send an article URL, the statement you are questioning, and the primary source that supports a correction. Use this form for library feedback and source questions.

Corrections and source questions

hello@getextraordinary.net

Help improve the library

Send an article URL, the statement you are questioning, and the primary source that supports a correction. Use this form for library feedback and source questions.

Corrections and source questions

hello@getextraordinary.net

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