A technical problem has caused the loss of all requests to enter the U.S. Diversity Immigrant Visa Program between October 3 and October 10. People who sent such entries to the so-called green card lottery in that period will have to do so again. The U.S. State Department posted a message about the issue on its website. It said the entries were not valid and were removed from the system. The State Department also said the technical problem has been fixed. It announced that the new entry period will begin at noon, U.S. Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday October 18, 2017 and will run until noon Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday November 22, 2017. The lottery is the only way to get permission to live in the U.S. for non-refugees who do not have family in the country or an employer to sponsor them. Admission to the lottery requires a high school degree or work experience to qualify.