On September 16, 2016, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) published a notice in the Federal Register on the 2018 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2018). This Congressionally-mandated program provides visas for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. A limited number of visas are available each fiscal year, and for FY2018, 50,000 diversity visas will be available. Applicants are selected through a lottery, with diversity visas distributed among 6 geographic regions. Natives from certain countries will not be eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous 5 years. Some of these countries include: Brazil, China, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Online registration for the DV-2018 program begins on Tuesday, October 4th at 12:00 pm EDT and ends on Monday, November 4th at 12:00 pm EDT. The notice contains FAQs and information about the diversity visa process, as well as requirements, such as every entrant must have at least a high school education or its equivalent.

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