Visa lottery ban won’t affect 2013 Nigerian winners – US September 20, 2013 Leave a Comment US visa lottery The United States government says its Diversity Visa lottery programme has been very “successful” in Nigeria, adding that Nigerians no longer need to participate in it. US Consul-General, Mr. Jeffrey Hawkins, spoke in Lagos on Thursday during a press conference to explain why Nigerians were excluded from participating in the DV 2015 programme registration. He, however, said that Nigerians who won the 2013 visa lottery would not be affected by the new policy. According to him, the primary objective of encouraging Nigerians, who hitherto belonged to the category of under-represented groups in America to immigrate to the country through the DV lottery program, had been achieved. Hawkins said though Nigeria was the only African nation on the list of 19 countries barred from participating in the programme, the development had nothing to do with insecurity or criminal records of Nigerians in the US. He said, “The congresionally – mandated Diversity Visa Programme is administered on an annual basis by the US Department of State to promote immigration from countries that are underrepresented in America. We make available 50,000 slots worldwide to those countries that don’t have historic migration to the US based on simple, but strict requirements. “And Nigerians has over the years benefitted from this programme. But, I’m pleased to say today that Nigeria has graduated from this programme as we now have a frankly strong, incredibly diverse, prosperous and increasing Nigerian-American community in the United States. “The DV programme has been successful in Nigeria as we now have an estimated 1.5 million Nigerian-Americans in the US and we are proud of their contributions to our economy. Nigerians are now fully part of the American life and there are a large number of successful citizens of this country in the US. “We have achieved the objective of promoting diversity in the US from Nigeria. In view of this, there is no more need to encourage immigration from Nigeria through the US Diversity Visa lottery programme. The DV lottery is no longer appropriate in Nigeria.” When asked if Nigerians could still be eligible for the programme in the future, Hawkins said, “That is unlikely, but it can happen.’’ He, however, added that the development will not affect other “legal” forms of immigration into the US. The senior diplomat said consular services for Nigerians seeking to possess immigrant visas that would help facilitate “family unification’’ and allow genuine investors to migrate to America would continue to be provided by the US Mission in Nigeria.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 11:53:52 +0000
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