This Charter applies to applicants, nominees, members, reviewers, administrators and decision-making bodies involved in AURELIS membership. It governs admission, progression, good standing, member privileges, reconsideration, suspension and revocation. Membership is a professional status granted under these rules; it is not purchased by paying a fee and does not guarantee an award, jury appointment, committee office, employment or immigration outcome.

AURELIS maintains five levels: Member, Professional Member, Senior Member, Fellow and Honorary Fellow. The public online form accepts direct applications only for Member and Professional Member. Senior Member and Fellow require the published progression or nomination route. Honorary Fellow does not accept self-application and may be considered only through institutional nomination. No level advances automatically through age, fees, years alone or personal connection.

An applicant or nominee must meet the current published criteria for the requested level on the submission date. Evidence must identify authorship, role, dates, sources and independently verifiable outcomes where required. The Secretariat may verify credentials, credits, references and public records. On approval, one controlled professional field is recorded for the credential and public proof pack. A later field change requires new supporting evidence, a recorded review reason and a new verification timestamp; marketing preference alone is not sufficient. Materially false evidence, concealed authorship problems or a misleading professional statement is grounds for refusal and may later support suspension or revocation.

Each complete online submission receives a unique application reference and enters the controlled membership record. The operating decision vocabulary is:

Pending

Received and awaiting or undergoing review.

Needs information

A defined evidence gap or clarification has been requested.

Approved

The applicable threshold has been met; an approved member profile may be created.

Rejected

The application is not admitted under the reviewed record.

These four states correspond to the website's administration workflow. A request for additional information is not an approval or a refusal. Only an approved state permits activation of a membership number.

• Member: completeness and authenticity review by the Membership Secretariat.
• Professional Member: evidence verification and discipline review by two qualified reviewers.
• Senior Member: a three-person expert panel; at least two affirmative votes.
• Fellow: a five-person panel including external expertise; at least four affirmative votes and Board ratification.
• Honorary Fellow: independent due diligence, an expert-panel recommendation and at least an 80% Board supermajority.

Panels assess the same published level-specific criteria. Decisions must be reasoned and recorded. A fee, donation, partnership or award relationship cannot replace a required vote or item of evidence.

Before reviewing a dossier, each reviewer must disclose any material personal, family, financial, employment, supervisory, client, organisational or competitive relationship that could reasonably call independence into question. A materially conflicted reviewer must not assess, discuss or vote on that case and must be replaced where needed to preserve the required panel. The recusal and replacement are recorded. An applicant may report a specific undisclosed conflict for procedural review.

The authorised reviewer or panel records approval, refusal or a targeted information request with a reason linked to the applicable criteria. Refusal may result from an unmet threshold, insufficient or unverifiable evidence, material inconsistency, false authorship or a serious integrity concern. The applicant must be informed of the decision through the available contact channel. Internal reviewer identities, confidential references and security information need not be disclosed where disclosure would breach another person's rights or process integrity.

An applicant may request one reconsideration within 30 calendar days of a refusal by emailing the Association and quoting the application reference. The request must identify a material procedural error, a documented conflict, or material evidence that could not reasonably have been supplied earlier. Mere disagreement with professional judgement is not sufficient. Where accepted, the record is reopened as Pending or Needs information, and a different qualified reviewer is used where reasonably practicable. The reconsidered decision and reason are recorded and are final under this internal procedure.

Members are entitled to an accurate record of their level and standing, level-specific participation rights, and fair application of the published rules. Voting, nominations, committee service, jury service and representation are available only where the relevant level and separate appointment rules permit them. Members must keep material records accurate, use credentials and the AURELIS name responsibly, disclose relevant conflicts, comply with the professional code, and meet any published dues requirement. Membership does not authorise a person to speak for AURELIS without a written mandate.

Standing may be made inactive or suspended while a credible concern is examined. Grounds include materially false application evidence, misrepresented authorship, serious professional misconduct, misuse of a membership credential or Association identity, undisclosed material conflict, or failure to meet an applicable standing obligation. Except where urgent protection is required, the member receives notice of the concern and a reasonable opportunity to respond.

A final suspension or revocation requires an authorised committee or Board decision, conflict checks and a recorded reason. Suspension pauses the specified rights for a defined or reviewable period. Revocation ends active standing and use of the credential; public visibility may be removed. A disciplinary decision may be reconsidered once on the procedural grounds in Article 08.

The Association keeps the application reference, submitted dossier, document metadata, review state, decision note, decision actor and time needed to administer and audit membership. Approval creates a controlled member profile, which is not public by default. Publication of a member record is a separate controlled setting. Access, retention and deletion requests are handled under the Privacy Policy. Reviewers and administrators may access only the areas permitted by their assigned role.

Material amendments must publish a new version number and effective date. Unless correction is required for integrity, security or applicable law, an application is assessed against the criteria in force when its complete dossier was submitted. The Membership Committee administers this Charter; governance and conflict questions may also be read with the Governance and Integrity Rules. Questions may be sent to 15217326923@163.com.