Starting TODAY, Tuesday, October 3, at 10 a.m., the electronic form to participate in the Diversity Visa Lottery program, also known comply as the U.S. Visa Lottery, will be available.

The program, organized by the United States Department of State, will be accepting applications from Costa Rica until Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 10 a.m.

Those interested should log-on to the website <www.dvlottery.state.gov>, to fill out the form electronically. This is the only official electronic address where individuals can register for the visa lottery.

Paper applications are not accepted. Each person must submit ONLY ONE application. Those who submit more than one will be immediately disqualified.

This is a free service offered by the U.S. Department of State, and individuals do not need to  apply using intermediaries.

This lottery grants 50,000 permanent residence visas to people throughout the world from countries with low levels of emigration to the United States. Costa Rica fits the requirements to participate in the program.

Often applicants for these visas receive emails from people requesting phone numbers or bank accounts, which is indicative of possible scam. Those interested in participating in the visa lottery should ensure that they entered the ONLY official website (www.dvlottery.state.gov) to avoid being the victim of fraud.

The U.S. Embassy is not directly related to this process, as it is carried out from the Department of State in Washington, D.C., so the interested parties should go to the indicated website to obtain detailed information. There is no other official electronic address to participate in the visa lottery.

Those who submit their request will be able to verify the status of their application, and whether or not they were selected using a confirmation number that the system generates. If the applicant loses this number, it will be impossible to verify if the person was selected or not.

Results of the selection process will be available starting May 1, 2018.

The Department of State will NOT send personal notices or letters via email or postal mail to those selected. They must log-in to check the status of their application, explained the State Department.