Just a quick but interesting update about the number of visas issued in DV2022, which should the scraped CEAC data was the most accurate source.

During the DV2022 processing, there had been some lawsuit related declarations by the government that stated the number of visas issued. They used a method of aggregation of monthly issuances, and that is known to be an inaccurate way to add up the data. Eventually the government lawyers corrected that, but nevertheless their numbers never quite tallied with “our” numbers scraped from the CEAC database by Xarthisius and Frank.

Now the government have produced an update on various aspects of operations, and in there they give an “official” number of visas issued by consular processing of 54,334. Xarthisius final number is 54,340 and Frank showed 54,335. So – it is clear that the CEAC data is a reliable and accurate source of information. Many thanks to both Xarthisius and Frank for making that data public.

This number excludes DV visas issued via adjustment of status in the USA, which we know to be at least 1300 visas, so the final figure will exceed the cap. The statement by DoS does not mention that, and simply says that visas were “exhausted” once AOS is factored in.

Now – for those wondering where the data is for DV2023, the data is not publicly searchable yet for DV2023. It will become available on January 1, 2023, and at that time we will see the data that helps us understand the progress being made, the distribution of case numbers versus holes and the highest case numbers in each region. I look forward to seeing that data!!