US officials revealed Friday they had canceled an annual visa lottery for citizens of poor nations, after a computer programme failed to make a random selection among some 20 million applicants. "Regrettably, the results that were previously posted on this website are not valid, they were posted in error," a State Department official said, referring to the http://dvlottery.state.gov/ website.
"They did not represent a fair, random selection of entrants as required by US law," he added. Some 22,000 people, who had already been told that they could go ahead and apply for a coveted visa, have now been told that the results have been voided. "We sincerely regret any inconvenience or disappointment," the official, who asked to remain anonymous, said. Set up in 1994, the annual Diversity Immigrant Visa program gives workers from poor countries the chance to travel to the United States on a work visa even if they do not have any relatives or an employer in the country.