Nigerians are Still Eligible for US Immigrant Visa – Consul-General

Consul-General, United States Consulate in Lagos, Jeffrey Hawkins has said that Nigerians are still eligible for Immigrant Visa to the United States, but have no longer qualify for the Diversity Visa program – known as Visa Lottery – after more than 50,000 Nigerians have immigrated to the United States in the last five years. Hawkins made this disclosure recently during an interview, stating that, “The decision was based on laid-down laws guiding the programme.” He said, “The DV programme is no longer appropriate for Nigeria as Nigerians are now immigrating on their own (to the U.S.) without the DV status.” “Nigeria has graduated. The immigration we have from Nigeria has been strong, we have an incredible diverse and successful Nigerian-American community in the U.S. About a million and half Nigerians are legitimately in the U.S. and that 9,200 visas were issued to Nigerians as of this year with about 6,500 of this visas issued in the normal visa category.”