Nigeria, others may get US visa lottery eligibility again

Nigeria, the United Kingdom and other countries removed from the eligibility list of the United States’ Congressional-mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Programme (DV), also known as the US Visa Lottery, may be returned to eligibility list as the list is modified every year based on trends of the previous five years within which they were removed.

Nigeria which was removed from the eligibility list in the 2015 DV programme may return to eligibility list after the 2020 DV programme.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Ashley Garrigus, in a response to inquiries explained that “the Congressional-mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Programme (DV) makes available up to 55,000 diversity visas each year, drawn from random selection among all entries to persons who meet strict eligibility requirements from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

“The section of the law establishing the Diversity Visa programme limits the list of “eligible countries” to those countries from which fewer than 50,000 persons in various visa categories immigrated to the United States during the previous five years.

The spokesperson added that “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) modifies the list of eligible countries for each year’s DV programme on the basis of this five-year calculation.

“The list is modified every year based on trends of the previous five-years. The list of eligible countries can change each year of the programme.”

Initially, Nigeria had low rate immigration to the United States and remained in the programme since it started in 1995 fiscal year.

Those born in any territory that has sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years are not eligible to receive a diversity visa.

For DV-2016, natives of the following nations are ineligible: 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.

The Diversity Visa Programme usually opens for entry at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), from October 1 and closes at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) first Monday of November.