Nebraska nightmares
Sorry I didn't update you sooner, I was pretty busy all of a sudden.
As you remember, I had an O-1 application filed 4/24/02. On 8/23, the 121st day after my petition, I received a notice for RFE (request for further evidence), stating mainly that one is very unlikely to be eligible for O-1 straight out of fellowship and that they disregarded the (12) expert letters, because everyone provides glittering letters. By the way, they were referring to me as "he", although my name is clearly female (Anna).
I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I had previously filed a petition that had been rejected (stating exactly the same things- had agreed that I met 2/8 criteria for O-1), and together with the above application, I had filed an appeal to the previous one. The outrageous thing is that on the same exact day as the RFE, I received a response from Nebraska (signed by the same person)that my appeal had been accepted and the appeal's unit in DC had written to Nebraska that I was satisfying 6/8 (!!- all except the Nobel prize and the high salary) criteria for O-1. They also said that Nebraska is wrong in disregarding expert letters, as O visas rely on such evidence. They even said that a high salary is not to be expected for university physicians!
So, my ordeal is over for the next couple of years. However, these people in Nebraska are grossly incompetent, since 11 months after 9/11, they don't seem to be able to connect 2 applications to one person, even though the applications were IDENTICAL!!!
My advice to anyone going for an O-1:
1) If you have multiple job offers, choose the one that does not belong to Nebraska juristiction
2) If you have to send your application to Nebraska, persist. And be aware that the process may take time (8 months total in my case, the first application expedited!!)