How related must my extraordinary ability be to the proffered employment position?
Pursuant to the plain language of 59 Fed. Reg. 41818, the position for which an O-1 beneficiary is petitioned need not be a position that requires somebody of extraordinary ability. Instead, as clarified by the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), on July 29, 2008, the beneficiary of the O-1 petition must themselves have the requisite extraordinary ability in that specific occupation. Accordingly, the evidence of a person’s extraordinary ability must be specifically related to the proffered position. For example, the mere fact that a person is a highly ranked professional tennis player does not alone qualify the person to be a tennis coach with the requisite ability to receive an O-1 visa. A recent AAO decision denied the visa application of a professional squash player in part due to the fact that the beneficiary was using evidence of what she believed was her extraordinary ability as a competitive squash professional to fill the role of a squash coach. The AAO held that a competitive
