dismissed O-1B Case: Music

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re : 12236548 
Appeal of California Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date : FEB. 26, 2021 
Form 1-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker (Extraordinary Ability- 0) 
The Petitioner , a public relations and marketing agency, seeks to temporarily employ the Beneficiary 
as a musical artist. It seeks to classify him as an 0-1 nonimmigrant, a visa classification available to 
foreign nationals who can demonstrate their extraordinary ability through sustained national or 
international acclaim and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive 
documentation . See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 101(a)(15)(O)(i), 8 U.S .C. 
§ l 10l(a)(15)(O)(i). 
The Director of the California Service Center denied the petition on the following three grounds: 1) 
the Petitioner did not meet the conditions as an agent, 2) the Petitioner did not provide sufficient 
evidence of the Beneficiary's scheduled events in the United States, and 3) the Petitioner did not satisfy 
the evidentiary criteria applicable to individuals of extraordinary ability in the arts: nomination for or 
receipt of a significant national or international or award, or at least three of six possible forms of 
documentation. 
In these proceedings, it is the petitioner 's burden to establish eligibility for the requested benefit. 
Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361. Upon de nova review, we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
As relevant here, the regulation at 8 C.F .R. § 214 .2( o )(2)(i) provides that a petition may only be filed 
by a United States employer, a United States agent , or a foreign employer through a United States 
agent. In addition , a United States agent may file a petition in cases involving workers who are 
traditionally self-employed or workers who use agents to arrange short term employment on their 
behalf with numerous employers, and in cases where a foreign employer authorizes the agent to act in 
its behalf. See 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(o)(2)(iv)(E). Moreover, the regulation requires any written contracts 
between the petitioner and the beneficiary or, if there are not any, a summary of the terms of the oral 
agreement. See 8 C.F.R. § 214 .2(o)(2)(ii) . 
As it relates to a beneficiary, section 101(a)(l5)(O)(i) of the Act establishes 0-1 classification for an 
individual who has extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics which has 
been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim, whose achievements have been 
recognized in the field through extensive documentation, and who seeks to enter the United States to 
continue work in the area of extraordinary ability. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations 
define "extraordinary ability in the field of arts" as "distinction," and "distinction" as "a high level of 
achievement in the field of arts evidenced by a degree of skill and recognition substantially above that 
ordinarily encountered to the extent that a person described as prominent is renowned, leading, or well­
known in the field of arts." See 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(o)(3)(ii). 
Next, DHS regulations set forth alternative initial evidentiary criteria for establishing a beneficiary's 
sustained acclaim and the recognition of achievements. A petitioner may submit evidence either of 
nomination for or receipt of"significant national or international awards or prizes" such as "an Academy 
Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, or a Director's Guild Award," or at least three of six listed categories of 
documents. See 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(o)(3)(iv)(A)-(B). 
The submission of documents satisfying the initial evidentiary criteria does not, in and of itself, 
establish eligibility for 0-1 classification. See 59 Fed. Reg. 41818, 41820 (Aug. 15, 1994) ("The 
evidence submitted by the petitioner is not the standard for the classification, but merely the 
mechanism to establish whether the standard has been met."). Accordingly, where a petitioner 
provides qualifying evidence satisfying the initial evidentiary criteria, we will determine whether the 
totality of the record and the quality of the evidence shows extraordinary ability in the arts. See section 
10l(a)(15)(o)(i) of the Act and 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(o)(3)(ii), (iv).1 
II. ANALYSIS 
At initial filing, the Petitioner submitted a "Management Agreement" between the Petitioner and the 
Beneficiary. Specifically, the Petitioner "agrees to render such advice, guidance, counsel, and other 
services as [the Beneficiary] may reasonably require to further his career as a musician, composer, and 
performing artist, and to develop new and different areas within which his artistic talents can be 
developed and exploited .... " In addition, the Petitioner provided an unsigned itinerary listing various 
anticipated events for the Beneficiary from June 2019 to Summer 2022. 2 Moreover, the Petitioner 
presented one signed and dated contract between! I Night Cub and the Beneficiary to perform 
withl I on August 17, 2019, and five unsigned and undated contracts between various 
venues and the Beneficiary. 3 In response to the Director's request for evidence, the Petitioner offered 
15 additional contracts that were signed between several venues and the Beneficiary. 4 
A United States agent may file a petition in cases involving workers who are traditionally self­
employed or workers who use agents to arrange short-term employment on their behalf with numerous 
employers, and in cases where a foreign employer authorizes the agent to act in its behalf 8 C.F.R. 
214.2(o)(2)(iv)(E). 5 A United States agent may be: 1) the actual employer of the beneficiary, 2) the 
1 See also Matter of Chawathe, 25 T&N Dec. 369, 376 (AAO 2010), in which we held that, "truth is to be determined not 
by the quantity of evidence alone but by its quality." 
2 For example, t~ry indicates that in August 2019, "[n]ew disc studio recording inl I CA. Live 
performances witlL__Jandl I in the area of Northwest Florida." 
3 Three of the contracts indicate performance dates: September 14, 2019, September 15, 2019, and August-September 
2020, and two of the contracts reflect "[t]o be determined based on Artist's availability." 
4 All of the contracts are dated after the initial filing of the petition. See 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(l). 
5 See also 2 USC1S Policy Manual M.3(C), https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual. 
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representative of both the employer and the beneficiary, or 3) a person or entity authorized by the 
employer to act for, or in place of, the employer as its agent. Id. 
On appeal, the Petitioner argues that it meets the conditions for an agent as an "entity authorized by 
the employer to act for, or in place of, the employer as its agent." Although the Petitioner submitted 
contracts between the Beneficiary and numerous employers, the Petitioner did not demonstrate that 
the employers authorized it to act for, or in lace of the em loyers as their agent. For instance, the 
Petitioner rovided a contract between and the Beneficiary for him to perform 
at the in.__ ___ ~ __ _. Florida. However, the Petitioner did not show thatl I 
'------~ authorized the Petitioner to act for, in place ot: as its agent consistent with the regulation 
at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(o)(2)(iv)(E). The petitioner seeking to serve as an agent for the beneficiary or for 
other employers must establish that it is duly authorized to act as their agent. 6 An officer may 
determine that this requirement has been satisfied if, for example, the petitioner presents a document 
signed by the beneficiary's other employer(s) that states that the petitioner is authorized to act in that 
employer's place as an agent for the limited purpose of filing the petition with USCIS. 7 Other 
examples of probative evidence that may demonstrate that the petitioner "is in business as an agent" 
may include a statement confirming the relevant information (itinerary, names and addresses of the 
series of employers) signed by the petitioner and the series of employers, other types of agency 
representation contracts, fee arrangements, or statements from the other employers regarding the 
nature of the petitioner's representation of the employers and beneficiary. 8 Here, the contracts only 
show agreements between the venues and the Beneficiary without any involvement of the Petitioner. 
Without probative evidence that the Petitioner is duly authorized to act as an agent for the employers 
requiring the Beneficiary's services for the purposes of filing the petition, the Petitioner did not show 
that it meets the regulatory requirements as an agent under 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(o)(2)(iv)(E). 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner did not demonstrate that it meets the conditions as an agent. Consequently, the 
Petitioner did not establish its eligibility to act as an agent in order to seek the Beneficiary's 0-1 visa 
classification as an individual of extraordinary ability.9 The appeal will be dismissed for the above 
stated reasons, with each considered as an independent and alternate basis for the decision. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
6 See 2 USCIS Policy Manual, supra, at M.3(C). 
7 Id. 
8 Id. 
9 We decline to reach and hereby reserve the Petitioner's other appellate arguments regarding the sufficiency of the 
scheduled events in the United States and the evidentiary criteria applicable to individuals of extraordinary ability in the 
arts. See INS v. Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) ("courts and agencies are not required to make findings on issues 
the decision of which is unnecessary to the results they reach"); see also Matter ofL-A-C-, 26 I&N Dec. 516,526 n.7 (BIA 
2015) ( declining to reach alternative issues on appeal where an applicant is otherwise ineligible). 
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