U.S Barred Nigeria, Others From Participating In DV-2015 Lottery Program

According to a statement released by the U.S. Department of State on Sunday, it listed Nigeria as one of the countries barred from participating in the upcoming Diversity Visa Lottery program (DV-2015)

“For DV-2015, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam”.

It continued that “changes in eligibility this year: for DV-2015, natives of Nigeria are no longer eligible”. However, since entries are based on country of birth, Nigerians born in eligible countries can still apply.

Other African countries, however, can participate in the program.

The department listed African countries that are eligible for the DV-2015 to include people from Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Egypt*, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles and Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, the entries for the DV-2015 will open on October 1 and closes on November 2, 2013.