The U.S. Department of State has announced that applications for the upcoming Diversity Visa (DV-2018) Lottery will be accepted electronically between noon EDT, October 4, 2016, and noon EDT, November 7, 2016.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery is administered annually by the Department of State and provides up to 55,000 Diversity Visas each fiscal year to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. For fiscal year 2018, 50,000 Diversity Visas will be available.

Persons seeking to apply must register electronically during the registration period. Paper entries and mail-in requests for Diversity Visa Lottery registration are not accepted. There is no registration fee for the DV Lottery. Applicants will be able to check if their entries have been selected from May 2, 2017, through September 30, 2018.

For DV-2018, nationals of the following 18 countries are not eligible to apply because they sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. Individuals born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible. Ecuador has been added to the DV-2018 list of eligible countries.