Applicants for the American DV Lottery 2015 (Visa Lottery registration) can now view the entrance status online.
However, Nigerians and citizen of 18 other countries are no longer eligible to apply for the Visa Lottery program.
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Jeffery Hawkins, U.S. Consul-General, gave reasons why Nigeria was banned from participating in its 2015 Diversity-Visa-Programme registration.
“As at today, Nigerians have graduated from being under-represented to being a fully well represented group in the U.S. There is therefore no longer any need to encourage Nigerians to apply to travel to the U.S. through the Diversity-Visa-Programme. Already there are too many Nigerians in the U.S. that have benefited from this programme.”
Mr Hawkins said that Nigeria was among other countries that had in the last five years, sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. through the programme.
He, however, said that the U.S. authorities would continue to give preference to Nigerians travelling to U.S for visits, business transactions, studies and professional engagements.
The U.S official also said that the development had “nothing to do with insecurity, activities of Boko Haram and other forms of upheaval in Nigeria”.
Other Countries affected includes:
The department listed other countries not eligible as 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
However the following African countries would continue to enjoy the programme.
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 and 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.
If your country is eligible and you applied for the DV Lottery, check you entrant status today.
2015 Entrant Status Check
DV-2015 entrants may enter their confirmation information through www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/ starting at noon (EDT) on May 1, 2014.
The DV-2015 registration period was from October 1, 2013, until November 2, 2013. DV-2015 entrants should keep their confirmation number until at least June 30, 2015.
Please note that selectees will not receive Notifications or Letters (as usual) by regular postal mail from the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC).
Please be sure to have the Entrant’s Confirmation Number, Last/Family Name, and Year of Birth in order to check the entrant status online.
