The United States of America has banned Nigerians from taking part in the country’s 2022 visa lottery.
This was contained in a 19-page document titled ‘Instructions for the 2022 diversity immigrant visa programme (dv-2022)’ published on the US website.
“Nigerians are no longer eligible for the Diversity Visa Lottery. Only people that were born outside of Nigeria or have parents that were born outside of Nigeria are eligible for the Diversity Visa. If you were born in Nigeria to Nigerian born parents, you are not eligible for the visa lottery,” the statement read in part.
While Nigeria is the only African country banned, citizens of other African countries are eligible to apply.
The document explained that Nigeria was barred, because more than 50,000 of its citizens immigrated to America in the previous five years.
Other countries barred for the same stated reason includes:
Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
