dismissed EB-1A Case: Speed Skating Coach

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U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
U.S. Citizenship and lmmigration Services 
Office of Administratzve Appeals MS 2090 
Washington, DC 20529-2090 
U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
FILE: c LIN 04 225 50217 Office: NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER Date: Q C 7 1 4 Zoo9 
PETITION: 
 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker as an Alien of Extraordinary Ability Pursuant to 
Section 203(b)(l)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. $ 1153(b)(l)(A) 
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: 
INSTRUCTIONS: 
This is the decision of the Administrative Appeals Office in your case. All documents have been returned 
to the office that originally decided your case. Any further inquiry must be made to that office. 
If you believe the law was inappropriately applied or you have additional information that you wish to 
have considered, you may file a motion to reconsider or a motion to reopen. Please refer to 8 C.F.R. 
tj 103.5 for the specific requirements. All motions must be submitted to the office that originally decided 
your case by filing a Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion, with a fee of $585. Any motion must be 
filed within 30 days of the decision that the motion seeks to reconsider or reopen, as required by 8 C.F.R. 
tj 103S(a)(l)(i). 
DISCUSSION: The Director, Nebraska Service Center, denied this employment-based 
immigrant visa petition on September 15, 2005. The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) 
denied the petitioner's appeal of that decision on September 1, 2006 and dismissed a subsequent 
motion to reopen on October 25, 2007. The petitioner's second motion to reopen and reconsider 
was dismissed as untimely field. The matter is now before the AAO on a third motion to reopen. 
The motion will be granted and the October 25,2007 decision of the AAO will be affirmed. 
A motion to reopen must state the new facts to be provided and be supported by affidavits or 
other documentary evidence. 8 C.F.R. 5 103.5(a)(2). A motion to reconsider must state the 
reasons for reconsideration and be supported by any pertinent precedent decisions to establish 
that the decision was based on an incorrect application of law or U.S. Citizenship and 
Immigration (USCIS) policy. 8 C.F.R. 5 103.5(a)(3). 
Counsel asserts that the petitioner's second motion was timely filed with the Nebraska Service 
Center (NSC) on ~ovember 27, 2007. The petitioner submits an affidavit from - 
an attorney requested by counsel to "interface" with - for delivery of the 
petitioner's motion to the NSC. certified that he gave the package containing the 
27, 2007. The petitioner submitted a copy of a receipt 
confirming the receipt of a package from at 
" in Lincoln, Nebraska. 
We find such contemporaneous evidence sufficient to establish that the motion was timely filed 
with the NSC. 
Nonetheless, the petitioner failed to cite any precedent decisions in support of his motion to 
reconsider and did not argue that the previous decisions were based on an incorrect application 
of law or USCIS policy. Therefore, he failed to establish a ground to reconsider the AAO's 
October 25,2007 decision. 
Regarding the additional arguments made by counsel in his first motion, counsel stated that the 
petitioner qualifies for this visa petition because as coach of a "gold medal winning team in the 
Winter Asian Games," he is the recipient of a major, internationally recognized award. We note 
that this motion was the first time counsel raised this argument to the Service. In the AAO's 
October 25, 2007 decision, incorporated here by reference, the AAO acknowledged that gold 
medals awarded to individuals coached by the petitioner were sufficient to warrant a finding that 
the petitioner met the lesser awards criterion under 8 C.F.R. 5 204.5(h)(3)(i). The AAO also noted 
that the petitioner's role as a coach of the Korean National Team qualified him under the leading or 
critical role at 8 C.F.R. 5 204.5(h)(3)(viii). However, regarding counsel's reference to a "gold medal 
winning team," the AAO found: 
' Page 3 
The record [I contains no evidence showing that the Korean National Team, as a 
whole, earned a "team" gold medal at the Winter Asian Games as implied b 
counsel. Rather, one athlete who competed for the Korean National Team, d 
, won gold medals in the two individual events in which he participated (the 
1,000-meter and the 1,500 meter races). 
In support of his subsequent motions, the petitioner failed to submit any additional evidence to 
establish that the Korean National Team, as a whole, was awarded a medal at this competition. 
The AAO also discussed the legislative history of ths highly restrict classification, stating: 
Given Congress7 intent to restrict this category to "that small percentage of 
individuals, who have risen to the very top of their field of endeavor," the regulation 
permitting eligibility based on a one-time achievement must be interpreted very 
narrowly, with only a small handful of awards qualifying as major, internationally 
recognized awards. See H.R. Rpt. 101-723, 59 (Sept. 19, 1990). The House Report 
specifically cited to the Nobel Prize as a one-time achievement. Id. We note that 
Novel Laureates are selected from a global pool of nominees, are reported in major 
media internationally regardless of nationality, and receive substantial monetary 
awards. Wlule a major award could constitute a one-time achievement without 
having all the elements of a Nobel Prize, the House Report and the regulation 
clearly show that the award must be internationally recognized as one of the top 
awards in the alien's field. 
The AAO then determined that the petitioner failed to establish the level of international 
recognition associated with the 2003 Winter Asian Games, noting that the competition was "a 
regional international competition . . . rather than a global competition such as the Olympics" 
and, therefore, its awards were not "major, internationally recognized awards." 
In support of his November 28, 2007 motion to reopen, the petitioner provided letters from the 
Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, the National Sprint Team Coach and the U.S. 
Track Speed Skating National Team Head Coach of the U.S. Speedskating Team, stating that the 
Asian Winter Games is a major, internationally recognized event. The petitioner submitted no 
evidence, however, that winners of the Asian Winter Games, a qualifying event for the Olympic 
Games, are reported in top international media or that the Asian Winter Games is a name familiar to 
the international public. The petitioner's evidence therefore failed to establish that medals at the 
Asian Winter Games are major, internationally recognized awards. 
Finally, regarding our finding that that the petitioner had failed to establish his sustained acclaim, 
the petitioner submitted evidence of "the outstanding achievements of the skaters he coached in 
the U.S. National Long Track Speed Skating Championship 2007." However, the 
accomplishments of the petitioner's students that occurred subsequent to the filing date of his 
petition on August 2, 2004 are not evidence of his eligibility for this criterion. A petitioner must 
establish eligibility at the time of filing; a petition cannot be approved at a future date after the 
petitioner or beneficiary becomes eligible under a new set of facts. Matter of Katigbak, 14 I&N 
Dec. 45,49 (Comm. 1971). 
Although we have overturned our prior decision regarding the timeliness of the petitioner's 
motion, for the reasons set forth above, the petitioner has failed to establish receipt of a major, 
internationally recognized award or that he meets at least three of the regulatory criteria at 
8 C.F.R. 5 204.5(h)(3). 
The burden of proof in visa petition proceedings remains entirely with the petitioner. Section 291 
of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361. Here, the petitioner has not sustained that burden. 
ORDER: 
 The motion to reopen is granted and the decision of the AAO dated February 2, 
2009 is withdrawn. The decision dated October 25,2007 is affirmed and the petition 
is denied.