UPDATE: It looks like this problem has been fixed, as a number of people contacted me to say they had been experiencing the problem but now were able to submit – good news!
OK – I am seeing a lot of people having a consistent problem that I would like to try and resolve. So – if you are someone that is experiencing the error as shown below AND you don’t mind showing me all your entry details plus photo – I want to go through the process with at least one person to see if I can figure out what is happening.
The error is the one that starts ” the request URL was rejected. Please consult with your administrator. “
So – if you have that problem, and you are ok with me seeing your details then please contact me by email at XXX edited by Simon XXXX Please do not use this email address for any other reason. Just this particular error and ONLY if you are not “shy” about me seeing your details.
I will then setup a screen sharing session and will help you with the entry. It would help if you can speak English pretty well so we can communicate. And I would need to do this in the next 2 or 3 hours, so that probably means early morning in Eastern Europe, or Asia.
So to recap :-
- You must be experiencing that particular error.
- You must be prepared to let me see your complete entry process.
- You should be able to speak English well
- You should be able to join a screen sharing session from a computer (mac or PC)
I will update this page once I have a volunteer or two.
October 9, 2019 at 02:59
I have submitted many applications and what I do in order to be successful is the speed of application The application does not take with 3 minutes
October 9, 2019 at 03:52
I cannot help if you are not more clear…
October 9, 2019 at 03:37
Hi dear
I was selected for 2019 dv lottery my interview was on 22septamber2019 but when I went US embassy for interviews the Person who interviewed me said you are not qualifie for thes visa by Section 212 (a)5. But now when I want check visa status Show me your Visa is administered processing. so now I dont know what should I do my ceas need more time or my visa denie??if you explain me Section 212(a)5 for me please.
October 9, 2019 at 03:50
You will not be approved now. Your refusal was for either not being qualified OR failing to follow the process correctly in some way.
October 9, 2019 at 03:51
Hi Brit,
I received the same error message over the last two days (Oct 7 and Oct 8) as I tried to submit the GC 2021 application and I did so during the course of the day ( 10:00 P.M – 6:00 AM. EST)….I used google chrome browser and tried to clear the cache, history, DNS etc but couldn’t get through to the section 2…
However I tried again on Oct.9 around 8:00 p.m (EST) and was able to submit two applications successfully for myself and my wife….
I think its just depends on the traffic volume…..had a similar experience when checking the 2020 DV results as well…. Anyway thought of keeping you all posted.
October 9, 2019 at 04:04
OK, thanks.
October 9, 2019 at 05:00
I think it’s not a serious Issue . It happened with me and with other friends I know , who are trying to submit . I gave the website some minutes and then try again , and after few times of trying , it worked . I was able to submit for my wife and I . And help two other friends submit theirs , too . Maybe it’s just the traffic .
October 9, 2019 at 05:12
Hello Brit, I’ve been experiencing same glitch for 3 consecutive days, but 5 minutes ago I submitted 2 entries for me amd my spouse, it’s 7 AM here in Meddle East
October 9, 2019 at 05:28
Great. It may be that they fixed it.
October 9, 2019 at 05:49
We’ve had the same issue. My wife finally got her entry through this morning. Agree with the other comments that it is possibly just the traffic on the site. Keep trying, it will eventually go through. I don’t believe its anything that anyone is doing wrong when submitting. Referring back to M.afifys comment, we also noticed you have to be relatively quick when submitting. If you take too long to double check or leave the page for a while it crashs. Hope this info helps.
October 9, 2019 at 07:09
hello Brit Hope you doing well
is the automatic filling from the browser acceptable in the form DS-5501
THANKS
October 10, 2019 at 01:39
The data has to be yours…
October 16, 2019 at 15:16
yes the data all are mine . I entered them before but the site crashed . when I fill the form again the word completing suggestions came out so I used it . I hope that is not a problem. thanks
October 18, 2019 at 11:23
is it aproblem mr simon . iam asking because i want to fill the form for my wife and i don’t want to make mistakes.
October 19, 2019 at 19:08
yes the data all are mine . I entered them before but the site crashed . when I fill the form again the word completing suggestions came out so I used it . I hope that is not a problem. thanks
October 9, 2019 at 07:25
Greetings to you sir Simon, please I don’t know if I am out of place but I really do need your help on this. I have someone that lives in Canada, he has obtained Canadian citizenship and he is very well established. However, this person is not related to me by blood but he is like a father to me. I have plans of travelling to Canada and he is willing to sponsor me. I don’t want to go to Canada through what they call Express Entry because I may not fulfill all the requirements,but I really would love to obtain a Canadian permanent resident, so I thought I could get some help from you as to finding out
(1) what kind of visa can I apply for?
(2)since he is not related to me by blood, will it be possible to obtain a permanent resident visa through him?
And
(3) since he is the one sponsoring me, can he possibly process my documents in Canada and send them to me.
Please sir Simon, I really will be waiting for your reply. thank you
October 10, 2019 at 01:40
I only answer DV lottery questions.
October 9, 2019 at 12:47
Hi brit, thanks for helping us. My question is i went to college and did a secretarial course and its diploma in Secretarial & I completed it & I have certificates, where does it fall under education please? Thanks
October 10, 2019 at 02:10
High school probably.
October 9, 2019 at 15:36
I submitted my application today afternoon. I think they have fixed the problem.
October 9, 2019 at 16:23
Great thanks!
October 9, 2019 at 20:52
My entering applycation it note going trou I’m in south africa did work i send in state trou my friend to help me I didn’t going trou i don’t understand
October 10, 2019 at 04:39
Please be more clear.
October 9, 2019 at 21:42
Hello Mr brite; thank you verry much for all informations and help,
Im winner DV 2020; AF48XXX, can I participate at DV 2021?
October 10, 2019 at 04:39
Yes
October 10, 2019 at 12:39
I received the same error message over the last days, finnaly its done;
DV-2021 Submission Confirmation: Entry Received
October 10, 2019 at 13:16
Hi mr brit pls I tried using opera mini web but any tym I reach at de upload photo if I click on it it doesn’t open for me to upload n I tried using chrome when I reached upload it open for me to upload but in clicking on the continue for me to move on it will say dis site is temporary down or moved to another website … pls which website is suitable for me to use
October 11, 2019 at 03:38
Ask someone there to help you.
October 10, 2019 at 23:54
Hi Brit, I’m a applicant of dv 2019, my case was place on administrative process and have been called for an appointment at the embassy what you think?
October 11, 2019 at 04:09
It’s to return your passport.
October 12, 2019 at 10:34
Hi Brit. Still cannot be able to submitt. Hope this problem can solved once and for all
October 12, 2019 at 19:36
Others have reported the issue is fixed, so you need to try again or get someone there to help you.
October 12, 2019 at 21:21
Hi Simon,
First off, let me join the thousands of folks in Thanking You for taking the trouble and having the interest to do this good work. Very kind of you!
Right, I’m having a couple of issues submitting my entry and thought would post on this blog entry as one of the issues seems similar to what you have mentioned above. Very happy to be a volunteer and work with you if you still need one.
Issues and Questions:
1. When I tried submitting my entry I received a “Connection Reset” blank page response. Perhaps this was due to me taking some time to review the information before pressing submit. Perhaps this was due to me using Chrome to make the submission. Unsure. As duplicate entries are ground for disqualification, I’m not sure how to proceed.. did my first entry make it through? etc/
2. I am applying on the basis of my wife’s country of birth – Lithuania. However, her city of birth has changed names and is now called something else from what is in her birth certificate (her country too has gone from Soviet Republic of Lithuania to just Lithuania). Her British Passport (we’re settled in the UK and are all British Citizens now) lists her place of birth as the new city name. That too without any of those Lithuanian accents that you have over some of the letters (dots, dashes etc). So now not sure what to list as her place of birth in the DV entry form… her translated birth certificate says something, her British passport says something else, yipes! (Fyi, when we applied for her British passport we listed the city’s name as it is today and provided her translated birth certificate as evidence and that was sufficient and no questions were asked)
Hopefully this isn’t too long a comment to take up your valuable time. Do let me know if you want to screen share and see what this is about. Otherwise, Thank You once more – you’re doing some very good work here!!
Kind regards, KN
October 12, 2019 at 23:52
1. Try again. It should work fine. If your previous attempt did NOT give you a confirmation number then their system did not register the entry.
2. Don’t overthink this. List the modern name, and move on.
October 13, 2019 at 07:18
Great Thanks buddy. You sir are a star. A super star 🙂 Keep up the good work matey ????
October 13, 2019 at 10:21
Thought I’d share this for those who come here with technical issues. I ended up using Microsoft Explorer in the end. Upon clicking the Submit button the page does error out sometimes, but as Simon mentioned above, if there is no confirmation number with the success screen, one would think nothing went through. I tried again and got through with a successful submission. Then the same thing happened for the Mrs as well – page timed out once on click of Submit, the second time it went through. Entering and triple checking the entries each time sure is a tense-ish process! 🙂 All good though. Now to log back in in May and see what the results look like. Good Luck to everyone applying.
October 13, 2019 at 15:39
Thanks.
October 13, 2019 at 10:56
Hey Brit..I entered dv lottery for 2021 but don’t know what happened..it never brought back my confirmation number.it said submission in progress..
October 13, 2019 at 15:42
Try again. No confirmation number = no entry.
October 13, 2019 at 17:20
Please my question it’s about the city of birth, I wasn’t born in my village so what should I do now
October 13, 2019 at 18:12
Enter where you were born.
October 13, 2019 at 21:27
Wish everyone applying for DV2021 good luck.
October 13, 2019 at 21:31
Hello Brit, I’ve been observing all comments and posts on ya blog for long and I must confess you have indeed been of help to many people. May God bless You abundantly.
October 14, 2019 at 14:08
Being in the IT industry, I was mulling over this over a cuppa… If I were to go submit another entry now with the exact same details, will the system give me another confirmation number? If yes, and there is no check of duplicate entries based on say the passport number etc at the time of submission, then one could argue that some of the first entries that timed out for some of us without a confirmation number coming back, may have actually gone through successfully at the other end and it’s just that the confirmation number was lost in transit on the way back (say due to a system fault, overload, internet connection problem). If this happened, it would make any subsequent submissions double entries and therefore would result in disqualification in the future. I can’t test this with my details due to obvious reasons.. but maybe one could try this with dummy details and see what happens! Purely academic at this point as I have submitted my details “twice” – once when the operation timed out and once when I received the confirmation number. Hey ho.
October 14, 2019 at 20:24
1. There is an immediate online check of a duplicate entry – probably checking on passport number.
2. Being in the IT industry, I’m surprised you did not “RTFM”. If you had you would have read the FAQ entry number 23 which states no confirmation = no entry.
October 15, 2019 at 09:16
RTFM.. lol haven’t heard that in a long time! By FAQs on “no confirmation = no entry” do you mean official literature released by the state department or an authorised representative of the state department? Don’t think I saw that mentioned anywhere in the instructions on the DV Lottery website but then I may have missed that. Anyways, was just trying to think out aloud with fellow applicants in the comments section 🙂 As I said, it is purely academic in my case as I have done the deed twice with the confirmation number coming back once.
October 15, 2019 at 13:56
Straight from the lottery instructions…
“23. I hit the “Submit” button, but did not receive a confirmation number. If I submit another
entry, will I be disqualified?
If you did not receive a confirmation number, your entry was not recorded. You must submit another entry.
It will not be counted as a duplicate. Once you receive a confirmation number, do not resubmit your
information.”
October 14, 2019 at 14:10
It was a technical problem at US side. Number of my friends had that problem for 2 weeks (including myself) regardless the browser used, the photo size, computer system used (PC or Mac).
I even forced that Dept of State’s website to check if all of the data needed was properly typed in (got it circled in red for correction – so I was sure their site is responding properly) – and still, the error message popped up after hitting “SUBMIT” button.
Everything works fine today (14th of Oct 2019)
October 14, 2019 at 19:29
I have tried mine and still is not going through Am in US too.The ERR is still poping the site can’t be reached
October 14, 2019 at 20:24
Yes agreed. There was a fix applied.
October 15, 2019 at 01:10
Hello Brit
Please, sorry if i might be taking part of your time.I have this worry; myself cousin played dv lottery 2020 and we have difficulties checking his results.so, i wish you could be of help if i send his information to you to help check for us;here are his information; Name; XXX, Confirmation Number; XXXX, Year of Birth; 1996. Thanks for your kind attention .
October 15, 2019 at 04:00
Obviously he/she has copied down the code incorrectly. It is best to find the original entry details – and look more carefully.
October 15, 2019 at 07:12
I am having problems entering my photo =( can you help??
October 15, 2019 at 15:54
You are not explaining at all what the problem actually is…
Watch this:
https://youtu.be/59uuZMpccpQ
October 15, 2019 at 16:13
Hello brit
We got our visa last month my wife and me.
She is the principal applicant,Can i travel before her?
October 15, 2019 at 19:36
No
October 15, 2019 at 19:17
I have a passport photo taken from Walgreens. What app do you use to size the photo using know
October 15, 2019 at 19:40
The USCIS photo tool does a god job.
October 15, 2019 at 22:16
Hello Britsimon. I have been getting error message every time I am filling the DV lottery 2021 form. The error says “this page can’t be displayed” On occasion I have been able to progress to the last page before submission and then the error comes on. Please help. I have been trying for the last week. I have changed computers and tried different programs but same error message.
October 16, 2019 at 03:56
I’m sure this simply means you are taking too long to submit. Try again.
October 16, 2019 at 11:04
Hello again. I tried everything and doing it in 10 minutes. Please look into this as you know a lot more. I read somewhere that it was due to the picture file being too big especially where the applicant has dependents. Keeping the same size of 600X600 but reducing the picture size on a website. This has worked. I don’t know if this makes sense. If it does as it worked for me, please check to see if those having the same problem can make any sense of this.
October 16, 2019 at 22:48
hello sir, can i apply dv application for my brothers using there computers using team viewer ?
October 17, 2019 at 03:40
Yes
October 17, 2019 at 04:09
Hi Dear Brit,
I recevied an email from KCC asking for further documents after i submit my DS260. I still have to provide police record from my home country and and the country that i used to live for overy 7 years (i have police record from this area but i stayed there for another 8 months after i got that certificate, i dk if that is enough). how soon am i supposed to send the documents? another question, do i have to send further documents other than those mentioned in the email? such as fees or other stff?
Thank you
October 17, 2019 at 04:31
First, read the instructions.
Then just send what they ask for – nothing more, nothing less.
October 17, 2019 at 04:46
Thank you for your prompt response. They are only asking for passport bio page, birth certificate, police certificate and marriage , court etc (which is not applicable on me bcz i am single and have never been on any court) and they said to collect and send them promptly. I will try to complete and send asap. Thanks
October 17, 2019 at 06:25
Hi, on my Passport my Passport number starts with the letter A**********. Do I only insert the numbers or do I include the Letter?
October 17, 2019 at 16:37
Include the letter if there is space.
October 17, 2019 at 08:55
The problem still exist as of 17th Oct 2019, 09:49 AM CET
I was typing in my spouse’s application today (as I wanted to send our applications on different days) and received and error message after completing and sending the second page (relatives/family members) – the error message was (something like that):
There was an error in RECEIVING data from the sender (US server) caused by unsecured connection/certification problems at their side.
I did not get to the summary page of that application nor “submitted” that application.
All data and photos are exactly the same as in my application submitted a few days ago.
How long should we wait till another try? 24hrs? I suspect that this application is frozen somewhere at their server.
October 17, 2019 at 19:09
Many people are entering successfully. I suspect you are spending too much time in the process, or have a bad internet connection. Try again at a different time of day.
October 18, 2019 at 08:00
I am blitzing through the process and I have a stable 1 Gbps/300 Mbps fiber optic 🙂 so that’s not the case here.
The error is different than the usual one reported by majority of people – it says there was a problem with receiving a data from a sender (US) due to their invalid certificate.
Some people in EU report that it happens just after the first page – and their solution was : refreshing the page and then cancelling the entry and then retyping the data.
I will try that later.
Still do not know how long such unfinished application is being retained at their server tough. Any ideas?
Cheers.
October 18, 2019 at 23:05
Unfinished applications are not being stored.
October 17, 2019 at 09:27
Hi Mr. Simon. A friend of mine is a Nigerian national who lives in Liberia and married to a Liberian girl. He wants to play the DV with his family but his wife does not have a passport. Can he play with his Nigerian passport as the principal applicant? May God bless you for your good work.
October 17, 2019 at 19:11
Yes – he can, by selecting his own country of birth and Liberia as the country of chargeability.
October 17, 2019 at 12:40
Hi Simon,
I have a Doubt.
I´m from Venezuela, due to struggling situation we don´t have access to new passports, instead of that we receive an extension of our passport but this extension does not have expire date.
At the same time, the US Government has said that they are going to recognize this kind of passport extension but don´t say anything about the visa lottery.
So, when I am going to try to fill out the form I don´t know what option I have to take in the section seven.
What could I do? Put my passport information that is already expired or I have to select the option that say:
“A national of a Communist-controlled country, and unable to obtain a passport
from my government.”
Thank you very much
October 17, 2019 at 19:22
Enter your passport details adding the 5 years extension.
October 19, 2019 at 16:48
as of 19 oct, after submitting all information, i still end up with “hmmmm…cannot reach this page”……i had tried several times, fyi thks
October 21, 2019 at 13:36
Hello Brit…
I applied for dv2021.
1.I have a certifcate in Police and i have 4 years of exprnc?.
And also i have Ordinary level certicate (secondary School)
will i be able to qualify?
2. How much money is needed during interview when s/he is a selectee?
Good day…
October 22, 2019 at 03:19
Both these questions are answered in the FAQ
October 23, 2019 at 10:27
Please I’m from Ghana and I don’t know our zip/postal code, can you help me with that or how can I know the zip/postal code.
October 23, 2019 at 16:18
If you don’t have one – don’t enter one.
October 24, 2019 at 10:44
Hello sir am an a hairdresser beauty massage therapy can I go for it
October 24, 2019 at 16:11
https://britsimonsays.com/education-or-work-experience-qualifying-for-the-dv-lottery/
October 25, 2019 at 23:58
Hey mate,
I have everything in place, but simply cannot go past the second page (sometimes the first) end up with a message saying site cannot be reached when trying to apply for the DV Lottery.
Please advise.
Cheers
October 26, 2019 at 01:11
Hi Simon,
sorry! whilst waiting for moderation tried once more and it worked after a couple of attempts.
I’m thinking the error could have been due to traffic on the website or I taking too much time to complete the application?
Any way thanks for your efforts in helping others in this area Simon!
Keep up the good work and let me know if I can be of any help as well!
Cheers
October 28, 2019 at 03:30
Hello. Tonight was my third entry (for my relatives). I did two entries early in october both with the erros and kept trying until they finally went through.. tonight October 27 I tried for like 5 times on Chrome, Edge and Internet Explorer they all gave me the connection reset issue. then I tried Chrome in Incognito mode and it all went smooth.. maybe it was just coincidence but try the incognito mode and see if it helps.
October 28, 2019 at 17:58
The deadline is near. It is 12:50 am here, and I still cannot submit my entry. The error message keeps popping up (e.g., This site cannot be reached and connection reset) I used Chrome and FireFox. :’(
October 28, 2019 at 18:47
My entries are accepted! FYI, using incognito mode really works! 🙂
October 28, 2019 at 22:12
Thanks for confirming that.
October 28, 2019 at 22:07
Try IE or edge
October 29, 2019 at 18:49
Hi, I know the dead line is near but i can’t submit my DV 2021 entry. I’m French and I’ve tried to use a VPN, disable my antivirus software, tried firefox, safari and chrome but still have the same problem. When i submit the first page i’ve a 404 error “The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable”.
October 29, 2019 at 20:24
Try incognito mode in the browser and let me know if it works.
October 29, 2019 at 22:00
Thank you for the reply. I’ve tried the private navigation on all browser i’ve mentionned and i’ve deleted all the stuff of my navigation (cash, internet history, ….). Same error page 404 “The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable”.
October 30, 2019 at 04:13
My tests work. I don’t know why yours is not.
November 1, 2019 at 15:03
Hi, my entries are accepted. I’ve found the problem. It was the picture. I’ve tried to send my photo in .PNG format. In fact, you need to send it in .JPG format and under 245kB for the size
November 2, 2019 at 15:46
Ahhhh. Yep following the instructions is important. Thanks
October 31, 2019 at 04:52
Hello Simon been trying to submit DV 2021 registration since yesterday but cant go past part one because website cant be reached. Can it last until the last day or will I be able to submit before 5th the deadline?
October 31, 2019 at 18:32
I suggest you try a different PC
November 1, 2019 at 22:02
Hi Simon. I made a mistake in my ds260 when filling in the city of birth. I don’t know how to rectify this and I would like to know if I will not be granted an interview because of this. Thank you.
November 2, 2019 at 16:03
You will get an interview anyway.
November 2, 2019 at 14:58
I am willing to share my details, since am still experiencing the problem
November 3, 2019 at 11:45
Spent like 2 hours trying to complete the application, and get error after I click the submit button. Tried multiple browsers, computers, no dice. Rebooted modem, same problem. The application, the site works fine up until I try to submit. For some reason the website is refusing connection at that precise moment or so it seems. It’s early sunday over there so it’s possible the servers have crashed and nobody is looking at it. It is also possible that my government is messing around with blocking websites (they love to do that, already blocked like a hundred thousand sites) although I did try a VPN to no avail. Dunno what to do, only 2 days to go.
November 3, 2019 at 16:48
Try again later. The site is overwhelmed.
November 3, 2019 at 12:42
I need help with my entry Mr Simon. I have tried over 10 times today and cant get through on any different browsers and even on private mode. Getting frustrated as the closing date is near.
November 3, 2019 at 16:53
Others are reporting a problem today. Wait until later or tomorrow – and try early am or late at night.
November 4, 2019 at 02:46
Thanks. Was finally able to do it in Chrome private mode. But it was the same problem using another PC/ browser. It seems theres a problem that side. I had to use back browsers a few times to get back in halfway though thats not recommended. Was lucky, as the information was still there and i clicked next and checked it all at the end. Restarting the process from scratch showed that error each and everytime half way through the application, that was very frustrating!! I dont know how people can submit multiple entries lol took me over dozen attempts to submit one! Lesson learnt, now i will start the process early, last minute is tricky.
November 3, 2019 at 14:49
NM, worked finally with a VPN. Suspect the government is messing around with internet in my country as usual