sustained EB-1A Case: Water-Skiing

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF C-K-
APPEAL OF TEXAS SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: APR. 27,2018 
PETITION: FORM I-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a water-skier, seeks classification as an individual of extraordinary ability in 
athletics. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(I)(A), 8 U.S.C. 
§I 153(b)(l)(A). This first preference classification makes immigrant visas available. to those who 
can demonstrate their extraordinary ability through sustained national or international acclaim and 
whose achievements have been recognized in their field through extensive documentation. 
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien 
Worker, concluding that the Petitioner had shown that the Beneficiary met one of the ten initial 
evidentiary criteria, of which he must meet at least three. 
On appeal, the Petitioner submits additional evidence and contends that he meets three criteria. 
Upon de novo review, we will sustain the appeal. 
I. LAW 
Section 203(b)(l )(A) of the Act makes visas available to immigrants with extraordinary ability if: 
(i) the alien has extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or 
athletics which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international 
acclaim and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through 
extensive documentation, 
(ii) the alien seeks to enter the United States to continue work 111 the area of 
extraordinary ability, and 
(iii) the alien's entry into the United States will substantially benefit prospectively the 
United States. 
The term "extraordinary ability" reters only to those individuals in "that small percentage who have 
risen to the very lop of the field of endeavor." 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(2). The implementing regulation 
. at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3) sets forth two options for satisfying this classification's initial evidence 
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Mauer ofC- K- · 
requi rements. First, a petitiOner can demonstrate a o ne-t ime achieve ment (that is a majo r, 
internationa lly recog nized award). A lternatively, he or she must p rov ide doc umentation t hat mee ts 
at least three of the ten categories or evide nce listed at 8 C.F.R. § 204 .5(h)(3)( i)-(x) (including items 
such as awa rds, member ships, and publi shed m aterial in certai n media). 
Satisfaction of at least thre e criteri a, however, does not, in and of itself, establish eligibility for t his 
classification. See Kazarian v. USC JS, 596 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 2010 ) (discussing a two-part review 
where the documentation is f i rst c ounted and then, if fulfilling the requi red number of criteria , 
co nsidered in the context of a tin a! merits determinat ion) ; see also Visinscaia v. Beers, 4 F . Supp. 3d 
126, 131 -32 (D.D.C. 201 3); Rijal v. USCIS, 772 F. Supp. 2d 1 339 (W.D. Wash. 20 11), afl'd, 683 
F.Jd. 1030 (9t h Cir. 20 12); Mealer (~( Cha••'athe, 25 l&N Dec. 369, 3 76 (AAO 20 I 0) (holdi ng that 
the "truth is to be determin ed n ot b y the quantity of evidence alo ne but by its q uality" and that U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigrati on Serv ices (USC JS) examine s "each piece of ev idence for r elevanc e, 
probat ive value, and credi bility. both indiv idually a nd within the context of t he tota lity o f t he 
ev ide nce, to determine whether the fact t o be prove n is proba bly tru e"). Acco rdi ngly, where a 
petiti oner submit s qualif ying evidence unde r at l east three criteria , we will determin e w hether the 
totality o f the record show s s ustained n ational or intern ational acclaim and demonst rates that the 
individual i s a mong the small percentage at the very top o f the tie ld o f endeavo r. 8 C.F. R. 
§ 204.5(h)(2)-(3). 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Petit ioner is a w ater-skier. As the Pe titioner has not established that he has rece ived a majo r, 
internationally reco gnized awar d, he must satisfy at least three of the ten criteria a t 8 C.F. R. 
§ 204.5(h)(3)( i)-(x). 
A. Eviden tiar y Criteria 
T he 
Director h eld that the Petitioner only met the pub lished material criterion at 8 C. F.R. 
§ 204.5(h)(3)( iii), conclu ding that the evidence in the record did not support the follow ing additional 
criter ia: award s a t 8 C.F. R. § 204. 5(h)(3)(i) and membership at 8 C. F.R. § 204 .5(h)(3)( ii). Her e we 
lind that th e Petitioner meets these latter two criteria in additi on to the publ ished· material criterion. 
We ag ree with the Dire ctor's co nclusion rega rding publi shed material about the Petiti oner relatin g to 
his s uccesses in \Vaterskiing, incl uding and articles in the and 
newspapers , among other publi shed material. 
Under awa rds, the Director h eld that the Petitioner had not sub mitted sufficie nt evidence 
demo nstrating that his a\va rds are natio nal or international in sco pe. On appeal, the Petitioner 
highlights the evidence of h is numero us awa rds throughout a 19-year caree r includ ing fifth place at 
the , sixth place at the 
six th place at the and third place at the 
among man y other awa rds. In a letter from 
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President of the , he states that 
the sponsors premier internationally recognized events "at the most highly respected sports 
venues" in which those who are invited to compete "are the world 's best ath letes in the thre e event 
water sk i spo rt who have achieved many successes in their home co untry and seek to win another 
internati onal title. " . the Executive Director of . further ind icates that 
the "U.S. Masters Championships is the most prestigi ous event in the U.S. and is by inv itation on ly." 
The record reflects that in 2013 , the Petitioner won six th place in the men's jump category at this 
event. The ev idence in the record sufficiently demonstrates that the awards discussed above are 
nationall y or internatio nall y recognized for excellence in his sport. 
Regarding membership in an assoc iation that requires outstanding achievements of its members , the 
Director held that the Petition er had not establ ished that his membe rships in' the 
, the 
the , and required outstanding achievements of its 
members. The record reflect s that the Petition er is also a member of the, the University of 
men's water ski team , the University of men's water sk i team, and 
the national water ski team. 
On appeal , the Petitioner provides additional evide nce of the requireme nts to be sele cted for the 
national water ski team. In a letter from the coach of the 
national water ski team, he indicates that he is "part of the comm ittee whic h decide s on the annua l 
require men ts and qualification limits for the national team." He state s that "[t]he results that skiers 
need to perform are based upon results from major internation al title eve nts suc h as World and 
European C ham pionsh ips" and that an individual " must meet these criter ia ... to be co nsidered for 
the nation al team." The Petiti one r submitted evide nce of the qualil ·ication requirements 
that must be met for membership on the Team, divided into an A, B, and C team.
1 
The record contains a lette r from , the President of the which he states "is 
responsible for many annual tournaments such as the the 
, as well as the sanctioning of internation al reco rd tournam ents , such as the 
1 and the " He states that the Petitioner has been · selected 
"to repr esent at the past two which are only held every four years and 
represent the equivalent of the We find that the Petitioner 
has submitted sufficient evidence demonstrating that the national water ski team requires 
outstanding ach ievements by its members as a prerequisite for joining the team. Therefore, the 
Petition
er meet s this criterion . 
We conclud e that this eviden ce establishes that the Petitioner meets the se three initial ev iden tiar y 
criteria, as required, and therefore, we will discuss the remain ing documentation in the contex t of a 
final merits determination. 
1 The Petitioner is listed as a member of the team for 20 17. 
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B. Final Merits Determinati on 
As the record satis fies at least three of the regulatory criteria at 8 C.F.R . § 204.5(h) (3)( i)-(x), we will 
analyze the Petiti oner 's accomp lishments and weig h the totalit y of the evidence to det ermine if his 
succes ses are sufficient to demon strate that he has extraordinar y ability in the fi eld of endeavor. We 
evaluate whe ther he has demon strated, by a prepo nderance of the evidenc e, that h e has sustained 
national or int ernational accl aim and that his achievements have bee n recog nized in the field thr ough 
extensive docu mentation, making him one of the sma ll percent age who have risen to the very top of 
the field of endeavor. See section 203(b)( I )(A)(i) of the Act; 8 C.F.R. § 204.5 (h)(2), (3): see also 
Kazarian , 596 F.Jd at 1119-20. Here, the Petitioner has shown his eligi bility for this class ification. 
The record rcllccts that the Petitioner has won more- than 40 national waterskiin g t itles for the 
over a 16-year peri od. In his letter, the Pres ident of the 
states that since 2007 the Petition er "has been able to win the 19 
times , which makes him the mos t successful athle te within that timefr ame." He further asserts that 
the Petitioner 
is "the figurehead o r water skiing on the intern atio nal level." This constitutes 
sustain ed nationa l acclaim in for watersk iing. 
[n additi on, the Petitioner has received numer ous high level award s in the U.S. and intern ation ally. 
The Petiti oner was award ed the 
in 2013. He achieved sixth place in the in the jump 
category, wh ich the Executive Director for . asse rts is "the most 
prestigious [wate r-sk iing] eve nt in the U.S . and is by invitation only." Internatio nally, t he Petitioner 
placed fifth at the six th place at the 
and third place at th~ 
These accomplishri1ents are also indicative of the Petitioner's international acc laim in waterski ing. 
The publi shed material about the Petitioner in together with articles in the 
and newspape rs demonstrate that he is highly regar ded as one of 
top water-s kiers in the sport. The Petiti oner 's photogr aph appears on the cov er of the 
magazine. An article in dated 201 1, states that the Petitio ner 
is "the best waterski jumper" and add s that h e " has best chances at the water ski 
world championship" in Russia. An article in dated 20 15, clai ms 
that the Petitioner "has reached the world elite." These, and many othe r article s, highlight the 
Petitioner's yea rs of natio nal and international succe ss in water-skiing, demons trating that he has 
risen to the very top of his sport. 
Regardin g the Petitioner's memberships, recog nize s that the Petitioner " is the corners tone 
of our nationa l team" and that h e has represente d his countr y in water -skiing for over 16 yea rs. 
asserts that "[n]o other athlete has been chosen to represent at major international 
tournament s s uch as World and European Championsh ips more often than him ." He adds that the 
Petition er has been selected " to represent at the past two which are only held 
eve ry four yea rs and represent the equi valent of the for non-Ol ympic sport s." 
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In addition , 
states that 
the water ski coach for the Univer sity of 
bas the number one water ski team in the United State s and has won 28 nation al 
titles over its 40-yea r histor y. indic ates that the Petit ioner was ranked seco nd in the 
wo rld in the level at the time recruit ed him and that as part o f water ski team, be 
"was an integr al part of two national championship winning teams as we ll as earning A ll-American 
honors in both yea rs competing for the Univ ersity." The reco rd refl ects that the Petitio ner has been 
ranked by the as high as 6th place in Men' s Jump for and 12th place in the world 
rank for Men's Open Jump . 
This ev idence, in its totali ty, is consistent with a tinding that the Petitioner is among the small 
percenta ge at the top of his fi eld of endeavor. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(2). When co nsidered in the 
aggregate with the evidenc e discussed above , the Petitioner has demo nstrated ·that his achievements 
are refle cti ve of a "career of acclaimed work in the field" as cont empl ated by Congress. H.R. Rep. 
No. I 01-723 , 59 (Sept. 19, 1990). We conclud e that the record supports a finding that the Petitioner 
is amon g the sma ll percent age at the top of his field o f endeavor with sustained national or 
international acclai m. See 8 C.F.R. § 204. 5(h)(2) -(3). 2 
Ill. CONC LUSION 
The Petiti oner has shown that he meets at least three of the evidentiary criteria listed at 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5 (h)(3)(i)-(x). He bas a lso demonstrated susta ined national and interna tional acclaim and that 
his achievements have been recog nized through exte nsive documentation. He therefore qua lifies tor 
classification as an indi vidual of extraordinary ability. 
ORDER: The appeal is sus tained. 
Cite as Matter o.fC-.K-, 10# 1223 I 84 (AAO Apr. 27, 20 18) 
2 We also find that the Petitioner has demonstrated that he intends to continue to work in the United States in his area of 
expe11ise. See section 20J( b)( I)(A)(iii) of the Act and 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(5). 
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