CP = Counselor Processing (Instead of applying for 485, you could go out of country and get your immigrant visa stamped from a US embassy)
Back to my case:
I claimed 4 points
1) National level award: Won 5 prizes in 5 years (3 first, 2 second) in my country's top, government organized software competition. One of them was in the student category and the others were in professional category
2) "Evidence of the display of the alien's work in the field at artistic exhibitions or showcases": All the above competitions were exhibitions as well. Unfortunately, USCIS does seem to consider this criteria for sciences
3) "Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media": My country's largest newspaper published a 1/4 mewspaper page interview of mine back in 1998. Also attached news clips from several newspapers reporting the prizes I won for specific competitions
4) Leading or critical role: Worked as technical lead at a successful startup back in 2000 which was acquired for big bucks, also worked as a core member of technical team (critical role) on a leading EAI product at one of the leading EAI companies. The product was a huge success (I am no longer with them) and won a few product of the year awards
In the RFE, they suspected that my awards are academic and are made by a university for its students, which was fairly easy to prove otherwise. The also questioned how material published about me distinguishes me from others in the field (and that I belong to the very top of my field). I attached circulation numbers of the newspaper that published my interview and proved that it has an impact factor greater than NY Times (with physical circulation numbers comparable to NY times). I also added more details (and a new letter from my previous employer) about my leading / critical role. Finally, I attached a letter from my current employer stating the importance of my position (and the fact that I am directly responsible for a large team and holding the most critical technical position in the compay)
That's about it! A whole bunch of people (including several lawyers) discouraged me saying that EB1-EA is for people holding PhDs blah blah but I decided to try my luck and it worked
logicators