As most of you know, the CEAC data I have been extracting over the last couple of years has provided enormous insight into the workings of the DV lottery program. It also allowed us to see the progress in each year to understand how many visas were issued/refused and so on. All that was possible because the CEAC data was available in a website one case at a time. There was no feature in place to restrict access to the page and it was possible to run a robot script against the web page to grab the data one case at a time, writing the results to a file.
However, I am sad to say that the government have now implemented a “CAPTCHA” step in that page – designed to ensure that anyone accessing that page is a human and can only get details for one case before the CAPTCHA needs to be re-entered. Whilst there are programming methods to defeat these CAPTCHA challenges (some of which rely on having humans solving the captcha), for the time being it seems I will not be able to provide the CEAC data.
Sad.
April 15, 2016 at 21:18
Bad news for us.very sad
April 15, 2016 at 23:15
so we can’t preduct the next VBs :'(
April 15, 2016 at 21:24
So sad , I was waiting so long to get your ceac data
April 15, 2016 at 21:32
what to hide ..the highest NR in Europe
April 15, 2016 at 21:55
So no more estimations of VB ???
April 15, 2016 at 21:57
Not having the data will severely limit the accuracy of the estimates. DV2016 will be possible to some extent – but DV2017 will be guesswork.
April 15, 2016 at 22:07
I am really disappointed
April 15, 2016 at 22:46
hi mr, simon really so sad but Where you are our will, i i believe that there’s a way
thanks lot
April 15, 2016 at 23:04
Really bad news but you did evetything you can to help people around the world and i am sure you have more to do and all we can say is thank you dear simon for everything
April 15, 2016 at 23:43
Soo sad.
Uncle please other options if possible
April 15, 2016 at 23:48
Because some people have reported the problem to KCC about this mistake to So KCC have found solution to prevent people finding case number and also this data .and of course the people that reported this problem to KCC are people who are against you. Anyway thank for your tiredness job for everyone’s
April 16, 2016 at 01:22
So sad. Why does kcc do it ? Aren’t there any other solution? What about remaining case of nepal?
April 16, 2016 at 03:51
what is the aim of this restrictions?
April 16, 2016 at 04:27
Most likely to avoid overload on the system.
April 16, 2016 at 04:00
OMG… our information lifeline has been shut, maybe they sensed there’s a genius out there who has been giving up to date and accurate information to the deserving masses. They should have simply hired you Simon for consultancy. Now we are in a quagmire without your data Simon. Always thankful for your efforts.
April 16, 2016 at 04:55
That is so sad Simon.. Thankyou for the good work you have done in past years and which you diligently continue to do. I hope that if not before DV-2017 ends, by DV -2018 things wil be sorted out so we can can continue to receive your valuable advice. Do you think that will be humanly possible?
April 16, 2016 at 07:50
too bad for us..but thanks so much for your continuous updates…i hope you can still be able to predict the progress on vb2016 though.
cheers
April 16, 2016 at 14:52
Very very sad state of affairs guys
April 16, 2016 at 15:17
What means ????
April 16, 2016 at 17:21
pls Simon…am currently in NY ..
applied ma GC in last two months Feb 18..but still nt in..wen I contacted the ugcis dey told me need to wait for anoda 60days ..
wen I applied did gt the transaction details but did nt gt receipt no of it..so can check de status of ma GC.don’t knw it’s normal?
April 16, 2016 at 17:34
It’s normal. Be patient…
April 16, 2016 at 20:05
Hi Brit,
I got really sad because of this bad news. I hope you can find a way to handle this problem. Brit, I have a question. In my country, Iran, the process of getting married has three steps: the first one is called engagement, the second one is called Aghd which is the period after the engagement but before the wedding, and the third starts after the wedding which is considered the main one. When a couple have Aghd, the names of the husband and wife is added to the wife and husband’s ID respectively and they remain there throughout their life. If this couple get divorced before the wedding, in Aghd period, and the wife has remained virgin according to a doctor, the names of the spouses are removed from their IDs, and their IDs would look like single or unmarried people’s again, not divorced ones because those people who get divorced after the wedding will have the name of their ex-spouse in their IDs forever. Suppose that someone got divorced in Aghd, and a couple of years after this divorce registered in dv lottery as unmarried( because his ID had no name of an ex-wife in it) thinking that the CO would based the judgement on the ID, and his person was selected in the lottery, but he corrected the mistake and filled the ds260 form as a divorced person with the name of the previous spouse because the form has a section called “previous spouse,” will this person going to have any problem at the interview??? Honestly there is no rule about these people in dv, should they register as unmarried or divorced? Are the officers aware of steps of marriage in Iran and the removal of the spouse’s name from the ID if the divorce happens before the wedding and the mismatch it may create for registration and filling the form?
What do you think of this person? Is he going to be given the visa without any problem?
Thx
April 16, 2016 at 22:43
I’m not sure how the embassy would react to that – I think it would be vary depending on the CO.
April 17, 2016 at 04:51
Thx Brit for the answer but What do mean exactly by it would vary?? I heard another story about another Iranian winner that had the same situation but the difference was that that person had gotten divorced after the wedding and the name of the previous spouse had remained in his ID card and he was absolutely a divorced person. He registered as unmarried, and filled form as divorced, and the CO gave him the visa without any problem. However, in the story I told you in the first post, his previous spouse’s name was even removed from his ID card and that why he registered as umarried. Do you think it leads to refusal?
April 17, 2016 at 05:21
The variance is because the CO is empowered with making a decision – so we can discuss the exact circumstances of the case – but in the end, the CO decides.
April 16, 2016 at 22:35
so we can never know how many visas are issued and refused from now on , right ?
April 16, 2016 at 22:41
Correct.
April 17, 2016 at 03:37
Hi Simon!
Have you considered appointing real people (volunteers) with retrieving data from ceac? For example 1 person can retrieve manually 500 cases over couple of days. Of course the updates will not be as before but its still a way to get an idea of what’s going on.
April 17, 2016 at 05:19
Yes I have considered that – and I may try to set something up – which will let people gather some data and as a group we could gather all the data. We will see….
April 17, 2016 at 14:56
You can count me in if you decide to go for it 🙂
April 17, 2016 at 07:36
Hi Brit
Thanks for the many useful info you continue to give us, however we are all sadden about the news of CEAC situation right now but we will hope other avenue open this information dissemination else where on this process.
I have a serious issue that have been worrying me for a while now, my wife played the 2016 DV leaving her middle name out and her passport does not also carry her middle name and father’s name but the rest of the documents have her middle name including the DS260 form. For instance She played as Garmai Flomo with no T which is her middle name and her passport only has Garmai Volawuo which is my(Husband) last name.
Will there be a problem during the interview about her middle name or should we reprint her passport bearing her father’s name as Garmai F Volawuo before the interview.
April 17, 2016 at 14:37
You should make sure the DS260 has the correct information.
April 17, 2016 at 11:52
Dear Simon Today we would be waiting for your valuable ceac data ,if the sad news wasn’t happend 🙁
April 17, 2016 at 20:17
hi brit,
I have a question.
Is it possible to say that the max number of cases that could got an interview is aproximatly 78000 ( the sum of the current CN in all regions in last VB) , so if we remove it from the total numbers of winner ( which is 91000) we will get a 13000 winners who could get an interview over the next 3 months ( July , August and September )
Is that a true way of thinking ?
Thank u
April 17, 2016 at 20:25
No. Your method is completely wrong.
You cannot sum the case numbers like that – the numbers are not concurrent.
Each case has the winner plus family members.
April 17, 2016 at 21:06
What I am trying to ask , is it possible for a winner from Asia for example to have a case number higher than 15000 even if we know that the total winners from Asia is 15000 ?
April 17, 2016 at 22:31
No. We know what the highest AS region number is already.
April 17, 2016 at 20:50
i can work with you guys if you need data .. we’ll try to collect as many people as possible .. we should really work this out .cause we need this .
April 17, 2016 at 21:25
Hy Brit my interview will be on 2nd may but ceac still reads in transit I cant even register for dhl what do I do bro? Is this normal
April 17, 2016 at 22:33
It is normal (well, a lazy embassy) – but CEAC status is not stopping you register for DHL.
April 17, 2016 at 22:26
Hey there , what do you think about ABD embassy? It’s like they go for spring sleep ? they have no signs of life at least for iranian cases no clearance, no update
April 17, 2016 at 22:33
Well obviously, without CEAC data I can’t say much about that.
April 18, 2016 at 03:21
Bro when I try to register Dhl it says Case number not scheduled for appointment so I can’t continue further thus my registration is incomplete
April 18, 2016 at 03:45
That is normal. You need to work around that – and register for a DHL account. Change the visa type.
April 18, 2016 at 09:17
Thnx sir will try that
April 18, 2016 at 09:54
Good day Brit.Thanks a lot for the advice you give here.Just a question.Do the CO also require proof of education for a derivative or they only require the principal entrant’s certificates as proof?
Thank you
April 18, 2016 at 14:43
Just principal.
April 18, 2016 at 14:09
Hi Sir
Please tell me what’s the meaning of updates in Ceac before interview?
April 18, 2016 at 14:42
What do you mean?
April 18, 2016 at 14:15
Hi dear brit wish u r fine and your family 2.please i am current for june interview and i prepared all documents and did all translations.so is it ok from now or it is early to do it ? One more Q can we always know from your blog if 2nl has been sent or we just have to check the e-mail box everyday till we get it.i just ask because of the ceac data bad news.sorry sir and Thank u and have a good day
April 18, 2016 at 14:42
You can prepare docs now. I will know the 2NL has been sent and will announce it.
April 18, 2016 at 15:35
Thank you dear and we r waiting for your important announes
April 18, 2016 at 15:05
dear brit
sad news. I have aquestion for you. should my sponsor mail the I-130 form or he can email it to me? thanks for your ever helps.
April 18, 2016 at 15:17
I think you mean the I-134. That should be mailed to you.
April 18, 2016 at 15:38
Hello Sir,
Thank you for the hard work. Will you be able to tell (despite the lack of ceac updates henceforth) when the case will be current, appx. timelines etc.?
April 18, 2016 at 19:28
For 2016 I have enough data to continue some estimation, but since we are getting to the end of the year anyway, those predictions are increasingly vague (deliberately) because KCC don’t have to follow what is mathematically possible.
April 18, 2016 at 19:34
I meant for 2017. Essentially, I wanted to understand the repercussions of you not having ceac updates. Sorry, first time DV lottery applicant here and I follow your blog but don’t explicitly know how it will impact the blog watchers.
April 18, 2016 at 21:03
For 2017 I will not be able to give such accurate predictions and we will be much more in the dark about progress. Since I have been watching the detail for 2 to 3 years now – I will be able to understand it myself, but without the data it will be harder for others to understand my explanations of the process.
April 18, 2016 at 20:13
Dear Sir
Since i was Ready i got one update status in Ceac . My interview is in May.
I am wondering what’s the reason for getting this update ?
April 18, 2016 at 20:59
It is meaningless.
April 18, 2016 at 21:12
Hi brit, Isn’t there any solutions for this problem? Since now we will never have the ceac data for dv 2016 or there is some hope yet? Thanx a lot for your supports
April 18, 2016 at 21:23
There are some technical solutions to overcoming the CAPTCHA challenge. For every problem in IT there is always to solve the problem if you throw enough money and time at the problem. Some are fully programmatic, some rely on humans working on responding. Either way, it will be slow and it will cost money (a few hundred dollars to extract all 5 main regions). Since I don’t charge anyone for the service I supply, I can’t pay for that myself. So – my current thinking is that I could solve this by crowdfunding the costs (and pay for a commercial service to solve the CAPTCHAs) or possibly develop a way where interested people (DV selectees) could share the work of solving these CAPTCHAs. BOTH those solutions will take significant programming time – so honestly – I am not sure if I will be able to dedicate that time.
April 18, 2016 at 21:28
I can volunteer for solving the captchas. You have done a lot for DV applicants and selectees and I hope I am able to give you some support. You have my email.
April 18, 2016 at 22:40
🙂
In DV2016 ( a quiet year) there are about 55000 distinct cases – so that means 55000 CAPTCHAs. Each captcha takes around 10 to 15 seconds to solve (commercial services take around 9 seconds). That number of captchas. So – it would mean we would need 500 to 1000 people volunteering 30 minutes to an hour of their time – perhaps once a month. I would also have to write a framework to facilitate that work. Not a small undertaking.
I have emailed Department of State asking for access – I doubt they will respond well – but if they did by some miracle it would be the best solution.
April 18, 2016 at 22:21
You can count on me dear brit
April 18, 2016 at 23:54
Dear brit
For overcoming on CAPTCHA i have a rough idea .
How many people every day visit your home page ? I believe acceptable numbers visit your blog.
So why don’t you make a program that every visitor before entering your website ( or reading any post ) put CAPTCHA and you use each person for extracting data from Ceac .
It’s just rough idea and i am not especialist 😉
April 19, 2016 at 03:41
Yes, I have thought of that, and people have implemented such solutions, usually in front of porn sites where the traffic generated is quite high. The porn is the “reward” for solving the captchas. I “only” get around 2000 to 3000 hits every day – and unique visitors are less than that – around 1000 to 1500. So – I would need to somehow force each person to solve several captchas a day – and even if I did that, it would take a number of days to get the complete data (55000 cases worldwide). Still – I think this is essentially the framework I would use….
April 19, 2016 at 04:05
How much will the crowdfunding idea have to generate to solve ghis permanently?
April 19, 2016 at 05:43
$100 to $200 per extract roughly. I currently run two extracts per month – but one would be sufficient to at least know the results & progress. The file extracts are only possible for about 8 or 9 months of the year since the data is not loaded into CEAC until early January.
April 19, 2016 at 04:08
I probably dont mean “permanently” but rather – outsourcing the solution either manually or paying for the ITsolution
April 19, 2016 at 08:28
Hello Dear Brit,i was interviewed Apr 4 2016 and the CO said me your visa approved. Then i checked my visa status and it indicate visa issued on April 12,But still now their is no email receive about track return shipment of my visa and travel documents. can you tell me some recommendations about this issue?
thanks so much
April 19, 2016 at 12:37
The only thing to do is wait…
April 19, 2016 at 09:13
Dear Simon
Please help me…Is it possible to extend valid duration of visa with renew medical while it remains visa validity a few month When I realized that my visa was OK?
April 19, 2016 at 12:39
If your visa has been issued already, no.
April 19, 2016 at 09:14
when can i expect to be interviewed CN is AF45***
April 19, 2016 at 12:39
August/September.
April 19, 2016 at 11:32
Dear Brit,
Please take your time to think for a possible, easy alternative solution and don’t hesitate to let us know what you’ve decided even if it will require our contribution (either money or workforce). This site has now become ours, our future children. what we gain from it is very far from what we can contribute and has no cost. I will always thank you
April 19, 2016 at 11:34
Hi britsimon
I and my eligible child passed our interview on 12th April. My wife will be interviewed at a later date. Now on Ceac site only my visa has been issued but my wife’s and my child’s status has not been changed to Issued and it is written Ready. The question is that my child has passed his interview but his status did not change. What do you think please?
April 19, 2016 at 13:10
I don’t know what you asked them to do – or when the later interview will take place. Wait a couple of weeks until you get the visa packet and then discuss it with the embassy.
April 19, 2016 at 13:44
My case number 430xx in any month??
April 19, 2016 at 14:45
Probably August
April 19, 2016 at 15:06
hi my case #is AF201653xxxx is there any way for me
April 19, 2016 at 20:28
You have to wait and see…
April 19, 2016 at 16:48
Hi brit when i was registing in the last dv i did mistak in m’y first name m’y name is Khir eddine and i write it this why “khireddine” without space between thé r and the e, would that cause denial if i win
April 19, 2016 at 20:26
It might do – it depends on the embassy. See if you win first….
April 19, 2016 at 20:22
I checked my status it showed at NVC. When should it change to transit and then ready?
April 20, 2016 at 13:24
Hello Simon,
my case no is 2016AS****5830
recently i found that i did some mistake in DS-260 form which i need to edit my education and some other stuff,I need to unlock my DS260 form from KCC but i am unsure that KCC will unlock or not, Since my case is current and 2NL might come within this week,
I am confused what to do ,please give me some suggestion
April 20, 2016 at 14:58
Try emailing KCC – if you have been scheduled they won’t unlock and then you will have to make the corrections at the interview.
April 20, 2016 at 14:02
hello Mr Brit
if you are refused,,, according to section 212(a)(5),, during the day for the interview, the statement result was with,, you answer to all other question. The consul ask for the original result,, i told the consul that,, Am going to get the original after the graduation, the date of the graduation is the April 30 2016..Mr Brit i need and advice
April 20, 2016 at 15:24
Once you get the proof, contact the embassy.
April 20, 2016 at 15:35
yeah Mr Brit that is the only problem, you mean the US on embassy on my country
April 20, 2016 at 15:38
the embassy where you were interviewed.
April 22, 2016 at 08:31
Hello Brit. sorry to disturb you. Could my number become current in next VB? 40*** Thanks