DV 2018 – Selected Entrants

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2018 diversity lottery.  The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.  Approximately 115,968 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2018 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2018 (October 1, 2017 until September 30, 2018).

Applicants registered for the DV-2018 program were selected at random from 14,692,258 qualified entries (23,088,613 with derivatives) received during the 34-day application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 4, 2016, until noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Monday, November 7, 2016.  The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country.  During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years.  Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly.  Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures.  Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2018 will end.  Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2018 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2018 registration.  Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2018 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2018.

Dates for the DV-2019 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months.  Those interested in entering the DV-2019 program should check the Department of State’s Visa web page in the coming months.

*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program.  The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability of those registered for the DV-2018 program:

AFRICA
ALGERIA  2,897ETHIOPIA  4,496 NIGER  57
ANGOLA  184GABON  41RWANDA  542
BENIN  611GAMBIA, THE 64SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE  0
BOTSWANA  10GHANA  3,549SENEGAL  400
BURKINA FASO  317GUINEA  1,470SEYCHELLES  0
BURUNDI  193GUINEA-BISSAU  5 SIERRA LEONE  1,790
CABO VERDE  24KENYA  2,997SOMALIA  436
CAMEROON  3,720LESOTHO  4SOUTH AFRICA  500
CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.  17LIBERIA  3,989SOUTH SUDAN  34
CHAD  85LIBYA  441SUDAN   3,781
COMOROS  7MADAGASCAR  50SWAZILAND  3
CONGO  240MALAWI  36TANZANIA  173
CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE  4,497MALI  126TOGO  1,667
COTE D’IVOIRE 1,029MAURITANIA  79TUNISIA  181
DJIBOUTI  121MAURITIUS  24UGANDA  485
EGYPT  4,495MOROCCO  2,719ZAMBIA  68
EQUATORIAL GUINEA  11MOZAMBIQUE  6ZIMBABWE  149
ERITREA  556NAMIBIA  16 
ASIA
AFGHANISTAN  636JAPAN  263QATAR  46
BAHRAIN  14JORDAN  447SAUDI ARABIA  489
BHUTAN  16NORTH KOREA  1SINGAPORE  43
BRUNEI  2KUWAIT  167SRI LANKA  777
BURMA  209LAOS  6SYRIA  414
CAMBODIA  390LEBANON  221TAIWAN  318
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMIN. REGION  84MALAYSIA  70THAILAND  60
INDONESIA  167MALDIVES  4TIMOR-LESTE  0
IRAN  4,500MONGOLIA  197UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 197
IRAQ  754NEPAL  4,097YEMEN  1,239
ISRAEL  159OMAN  10 
EUROPE
ALBANIA  4,484GREECE  171NORTHERN IRELAND  16
ANDORRA  0HUNGARY  205NORWAY  47
ARMENIA  2,844ICELAND  13  Svalbard  1
AUSTRIA  89IRELAND  123POLAND  863
AZERBAIJAN  961ITALY  546PORTUGAL  84
BELARUS  1,466KAZAKHSTAN  1,020  Macau  5
BELGIUM  86KOSOVO  464ROMANIA  516
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 92KYRGYZSTAN  753RUSSIA  4,500
BULGARIA  776LATVIA  91SAN MARINO  0
CROATIA  63LIECHTENSTEIN  0SERBIA  560
CYPRUS  19LITHUANIA  257SLOVAKIA  82
CZECH REPUBLIC  95LUXEMBOURG  2SLOVENIA  10
DENMARK  45MACEDONIA  514SPAIN  311
  Faroe Islands  2MALTA  2SWEDEN  130
ESTONIA  61MOLDOVA  1,418SWITZERLAND  85
FINLAND  68MONACO  3TAJIKISTAN  1,209
FRANCE  649MONTENEGRO  38TURKEY  4,390
  French Polynesia  15NETHERLANDS  79TURKMENISTAN  306
  New Caledonia  2  Aruba 8 UKRAINE  4,478
GEORGIA  1,195   Curacao  10UZBEKISTAN  4,494
GERMANY  886  Sint Maarten  4VATICAN CITY  0 
NORTH AMERICA
BAHAMAS, THE  15  
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA  2,154NEW ZEALAND  546SAMOA  10
FIJI  900  Cook Islands 19SOLOMON ISLANDS  10
KIRIBATI  18  Niue  1TONGA  129
MARSHALL ISLANDS  0  Tokelau  2TUVALU  0
MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF  6PALAU  3VANUATU  17
NAURU  25PAPUA NEW GUINEA  23 
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN 
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA  2DOMINICA  8PARAGUAY  7
ARGENTINA  109ECUADOR  1,228SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS  1
BARBADOS  2GRENADA  11SAINT LUCIA  14
BELIZE  1GUATEMALA  120SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 8
BOLIVIA  52GUYANA  10SURINAME  6
CHILE  76HONDURAS  144TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO  79
COSTA RICA  66NICARAGUA  51URUGUAY  36
CUBA  733PANAMA  22VENEZUELA  2,209

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2018:  Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R., Macau, and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.