When people from all of the world can communicate, and work together to a common goal we can achieve great things. We (the Briotsimonsays readers) are showing that right now!
It’s not even 48 hours since I asked for help on the solving the CEAC Captchas. We already have over HALF the cases captured! The tool is working brilliantly (all credit to Xarthisius for an amazing job there), and lots of people have put in an incredible effort. Just take a look at the numbers on the “hall of fame”. Just amazing!
https://dvcharts.xarthisius.xyz/login.html
Remember – “many hands make light work” – so if you have a few minutes to spare – please login in and help get the second half of the numbers.
I actually don’t want to publish the numbers and analysis until I can publish all the regions – but I just to give a taster to make it clear about the sort of data we can get.
We have the entire AF region captured already. The AF region has 42712 case numbers. Of those case numbers, 15060 are “holes”. This means the case number was disqualified before the selectee was ever even notified. I have explained why that happens in this older article. I will soon plot the density charts so we can have a better understanding of “limited” countries. This will be helpful in predicting progress in 2018.
We can also see that 10592 cases are still showing at “At NVC”. This means those cases never sent in their DS260 – they either didn’t check their win or simply decided not to pursue the win. That means 38% of AF selectees didn’t respond. That is a big factor to understand why KCC over select each year. If we assume that DV-2018 experience a similar “non-response” rate of 38% that means the about 19,000 of the 49,000 won’t respond at all.
I could go on giving info – but as I said, I would like to get all the data first – so let’s keep solving captchas!
So – for those that have been reading my blog for some time – they will already know the importance of this data to help understand the process. But hopefully you can begin to see why I am excited to start seeing this data. This really is like turning the lights on in a dark room.
Thanks all of you that are helping with this valuable effort.
January 4, 2018 at 21:29
Dear Brits, Happy 2018 to you and your lovely family. My husband (daleh) and I have been following and reading all your post since we discovered he was selected for DV2018. We ve been busy solving some CAPTCHA and it so amazing to see it moving so fast.. Cant wait for your next post so we can have an idea about how things are moving and when we could be scheduled for an interview CN AF43xxx. Thanks once more for being so amazing and patient.. You are greatly appreciated…..
January 4, 2018 at 21:41
Thanks for your efforts! Hopefully I will be able to publish some analysis soon.
November 28, 2017 at 11:13
Hi Britt, I have been trying to access ceac data from my handphone, however I was put into a page with username and password, and no link to register, any thought?
November 28, 2017 at 14:52
If you are trying to access the scraper, we aren’t using that until January.
November 30, 2017 at 14:58
Hello brit how are you? thanks so much for your help.
I live in West Africa and i want to know how to find out if my case number is schedule for interview
November 30, 2017 at 15:02
britsimonsays.com/DV2018-basic-questions/
October 11, 2017 at 06:43
ave been trying to fill d DV2019 form but al i his AEC CURRENTLY DOWN FOR MAINTAINANCE
October 11, 2017 at 13:49
I know. Patience.
October 9, 2017 at 04:17
Thanks but if I really understood you well even without putting anything in all places that asked for her A number because she doesn’t have it and let all those places blank her document won’t be rejected???
October 8, 2017 at 22:02
Hi BritSimon
I have a question I filed the form I-485 for adjustment of status through Dv lottery 2018 for my sister and sent it in October 5, but we didn’t put anything in the place where it asked for the A number she doesn’t have it and we didn’t put anything even N/A or None we let it blank, and it is only place we missed to put something in her applications some places we put N/A or None now my questions are does her ducuments will be rejected or not??? And also should we do anything for fixing it before getting a rejection notice??? Thanks
October 9, 2017 at 02:44
No, just relax and wait.
October 4, 2017 at 12:47
Dear Simon,
My friend has appointment in USA embassy at Djbouti. But the guard of embassy told him, your name is not in the list. Please, could you advise what is the problem?
Thanks advance for you cooperative.
Best regards
October 4, 2017 at 13:42
I have no idea. But pretty obviously you only have to present the 2NL with the appointment details to solve the problem.
October 3, 2017 at 13:44
Working again now
October 3, 2017 at 12:59
hallo birt
you say “38% of AF selectees didn’t respond”…..is it 2018 dv cases?
if yes……is help/chace for who Aos african selectees…..?
October 3, 2017 at 13:34
This was about DV2017 cases
October 3, 2017 at 10:50
Hello Simon ,
Thank you for this information.
I have a question please concerning the delay that may happens in the processing of the cases if the concerned person ‘unlocked’ the DS260 form and did some modification. Do you have any information about how much it can impact the processing ?
My CN is AF19*** , thank you so much for your help .
October 3, 2017 at 13:40
No delay. Read the FAQ!
October 3, 2017 at 08:34
what do you mean by permanent lock on DS260. do we have to lock it since mine says completed. is that it or we have to do anything else to lock it. i read this in one of the comments that someone had a permanent lock on DS260. just confused.
October 3, 2017 at 13:46
Some people write to KCC for a perm lock. It is NOT recommended or necessary if you just exercise some common sense to keep your info private.
June 18, 2024 at 12:48
Hello simon
I have a permanent lock on my case
I want to know if this may affect the processing of my case, including the scheduling of my interview.
June 18, 2024 at 19:08
If you mean you asked them to lock the DS260, but it is completed properly, then there should be no impact.
October 2, 2017 at 20:58
Hi Simon, in your post you mentioned that 38% did not respond, however, it could be the case as well that a part of them are in the US and want to do the adjustment of status, correct (and thereby the non response number would be lower)? Thank you!
October 2, 2017 at 21:45
Yes – but AF region AOS cases are a very small percentage.
October 2, 2017 at 22:08
Adding on, if I currently was in the US on another visa (with no risk of having to leave until 2019) and therewith planning on doing the AOS, would you still suggest to complete the DS-260?
October 2, 2017 at 23:28
Yes. But you should be careful with the timing of any entries.
October 2, 2017 at 23:55
Thank you for the reply. Any way you could elaborate on the timing issue?
October 3, 2017 at 01:33
All it means is there is no need to send in the DS260 much earlier than when your case is almost current. This becomes critical if you enter the USA (30/60/90 rule, now 90 day)
October 2, 2017 at 18:03
Hi brit. I want to check my status and it says invalid immigrant visa case number
Mine is 2018SA16xx
October 2, 2017 at 18:26
There is no need to check your status. Your status is that you are waiting to become current – and you will wait until summer of 2018.
CEAC won’t have 2018 data until January 1.
October 2, 2017 at 18:29
Ah ok. Thanks. Do you think that the distribution of case number each month would be similar to year 2007 or 2006?
October 2, 2017 at 15:52
Hello Brit thank u so much for this site . My name is Rami i’m from Moroooco.this My First time i win this thing. I have sent ds260 6th of june 2017 .my case number is 2018AF000164×× . 1-Do i have a chance to get interviewed ? 2-Cuz i didn’t get my 2LN yet ? Thank you 🙂
October 2, 2017 at 16:32
Read this
https://britsimonsays.com/dv2018-basic-questions
October 2, 2017 at 09:51
102 entries in 8 minutes with error rate of 0.8% … That’s was my contribution today… Will do again tomorrow if all not captured… Keep it up guys…
October 2, 2017 at 14:00
Thanks!
October 2, 2017 at 05:19
There you go Britsimon…. my day off punching numbers and letters for you. I think I have RSI and slightly mad but it was worth it. Love your work .
October 2, 2017 at 14:31
You made a FANTASTIC effort of over 2500 cases!! Thank you!!
October 2, 2017 at 04:51
Spent 5 minutes doing about 60 entries. Awesome tool. Distributed human computing at its best.
October 2, 2017 at 14:33
THank you for the effort. The Kudos for the tool goes to Xarthisius – a very clever man.
October 1, 2017 at 23:42
I also type few correctly by doing this what we are going to extract
October 2, 2017 at 00:06
Take a look at a file from previous year
https://britsimonsays.com/2016-ceac-data-first-file/
October 2, 2017 at 16:20
i won the 2018 dv lottery and i have already filled my DS260 form but when i spoke to my sponsor about the i-134 form she told me that she is so broke this days and she advice me to just try and get a strong bank statement and use that to back myself during the interview
October 2, 2017 at 16:31
OK.
October 9, 2017 at 13:34
1- Can i go for the interview with just my DS260 for without the i-134 for?
2- I used my sister’s name who is in US married with kids but after filling and submitting my DS260 form on her name, she ends up saying that she is broke and cannot sign the i-134 afidavid of support form for me, can that affect my interview?
3-can i ask someone else whose name was not used i my DS260 form to fill the i-134 form for me
October 9, 2017 at 13:57
1. It depends on the embassy. Some rarely ask for an I-134, some always ask.
2. See 1
3. Yes
October 11, 2017 at 12:18
1- i use my sisters name and address as my sponsor in my DS260 form, and later she told me that she is stranded because she did a lot of spending this year and that she cannot fill the afidavid of support(i-134) for me, now can i get someone else who is in the United States to fill me an afidavid of support(i-134) an act as my sponsor even though that person’s is not in the DS260 form?.
2- Will it not be problem if the address of the person who fills the afidavid of support (i-134) is different from the address i asked my Greed Card to be sent as indicated in my DS260 form?
October 11, 2017 at 13:42
I already answered these questions above. Please be careful to respect my time.
October 1, 2017 at 22:08
Thanks Simon, you are indeed a brain though I am not helping for now.I appreciate you so much for this because these are things some of us like to see and know.
October 1, 2017 at 21:40
hi Brit can I start filling up my form now for the entry 2018-2019 thanks
October 2, 2017 at 00:09
DV-2019 opens on Tuesday October 3rd
October 1, 2017 at 21:18
Hello Mr Brit my question is , is Dv lottery winners of this year interview still going on …. I submitted Ma DS 260 on the 12 of June And still haven’t gotten Any 2Nl yet please and ma case number is 2018AF12***
October 1, 2017 at 21:32
You have to be patient. Your number means it is not your turn yet.
October 1, 2017 at 21:35
Thank You Mr.. Brit But please when Is the Interview Deadline please ?
October 2, 2017 at 00:11
PATIENCE!
October 1, 2017 at 20:04
hallo brit after typing the captchas I can’t submit using the tablet?
October 1, 2017 at 20:24
OK – it may not work on a tablet. Thanks for trying though.
October 1, 2017 at 19:33
hello mr brit thanks and im hapy new progress you did finall my question is US Department os state says Nationals of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen and Somalia: The exceptions and waivers listed in the P.P. are applicable for qualified applicants, but the bona fide relationship exception is no longer applicable so what kind of qualification is needed as your experience thanks mar brit i like yuor good anwers answers
October 1, 2017 at 19:36
I don’t know. No one knows. No one has experience of this. But I will say that getting a waiver will be extremely unlikely.
October 1, 2017 at 19:21
HI Brit, thanks alot for your important information.
i would like to support your effert through log in but the web site which i have in the above post is not wrking proprly in my phone devise (sumsung J5) so what shall better?
October 1, 2017 at 19:31
One of the reasons we started off with the “test” of the system is to discover what glitches we might have. Xarthisius had commented that it was a surprise about how many people accessed the tool through a cell phone. It must be quite difficult to solve the captchas in volume without a physical keyboard. So – I think those who only have phones might not be able to solve so many captchas.
October 4, 2017 at 19:34
thanks alot….i will try to do via physical key board
October 1, 2017 at 19:13
Great Mr. Brit
we give the best of us for it
congrats