US bars Nigeria from Visa lottery

Nigeria has been barred from participating in
the America Diversity Visa lottery
programme also known ‘US Visa Lottery’.
In a statement released on Sunday, September
15, 2013, the United States Department of
State disclosed that citizens from Nigeria and
18 other countries will not be eligible for
DV-2015.
The reason for the debarment is because more
than 50,000 natives of these countries
immigrated to the United States in the
previous five years.
Other countries barred from the Visa lottery
include United Kingdom (except Northern
Ireland), Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines,
South Korea, and Bangladesh.
Others include India, Jamaica, Brazil, Canada,
China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Haiti.
Nigeria appears to be the only African country
released along with the non-eligible list.
Phone calls to the Bureau of Consular Affairs
of the US State Department were not answered
as at the time of turning in this report.
E-mails sent to the official e-mail addresses
have also not been replied.