EB-1A Appeals: Finance & Accounting

Last updated 2026-09-02

The AAO dismissed 88.5% of EB-1A appeals from Finance & Accounting petitioners in published non-precedent decisions from 2005–2025 (n=52). The criterion most often at issue was Membership in associations.

Outcomes by Year

Year	Dismissed	Sustained	Remanded	Total
2025	1 (—)	0	1	2
2024	5 (—)	1	3	9
2022	4 (—)	0	0	4
2021	1 (—)	0	0	1
2020	9 (—)	0	0	9
2019	4 (—)	1	0	5
2018	1 (—)	0	0	1
2017	1 (—)	0	0	1
2016	1 (—)	0	0	1
2015	1 (—)	0	0	1
2014	2 (—)	0	0	2
2011	2 (—)	0	0	2
2010	2 (—)	0	0	2
2009	1 (—)	0	0	1
2007	2 (—)	0	0	2
2006	2 (—)	0	0	2
2005	2 (—)	0	0	2

Criteria Breakdown

Criterion	In Dismissed	In Sustained	Total	Dismissal Rate
Membership in associations	26	1	30	86.7%
Prizes or awards	23	2	29	79.3%
Leading or critical role	23	1	28	82.1%
Judging	21	2	25	84.0%
Original contributions of major significance	20	2	24	83.3%
Published material about the alien	18	2	23	78.3%
Authorship of scholarly articles	17	2	22	77.3%
High salary or remuneration	17	1	19	—

Example Decisions

Sustained2024-11-06The appeal was sustained because the AAO determined that the Director erred in the final merits determination. The Direc Sustained2019-06-25The appeal was sustained because the AAO found that the Beneficiary met the 'leading or critical role' criterion, in add Dismissed2024-08-22The appeal was dismissed because the AAO disagreed with the Director's finding on the 'leading or critical role' criteri Dismissed2014-07-17The appeal was dismissed because the petitioner failed to establish eligibility under the required number of regulatory Dismissed2006-11-02The appeal was dismissed because the petitioner failed to establish sustained national or international acclaim. The evi Dismissed2005-08-19The appeal was dismissed because the petitioner failed to establish the beneficiary met the criteria for an alien of ext Dismissed2024-10-17The appeal was dismissed because the petitioner failed to meet the required number of evidentiary criteria. The AAO foun

In sustained EB-1A appeals for Finance & Accounting petitioners, the AAO credited evidence such as peer-reviewed publications with documented scholarly reception. Dismissed cases most often lacked that the awards were nationally or internationally recognized (not merely regional or local); sustained national or international acclaim in the final merits determination.

Sample: published AAO non-precedent decisions collected from uscis.gov, 2005–2025. These are appeals, not all USCIS adjudications; approval rates here are not initial-filing approval rates. Read our full methodology.

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