Nevis Gaming Licence Restricted Countries
NOGA lists countries that Nevis licensees may not serve. B2C operators must geo-block them, and the licence conditions bar any licensee from marketing to or registering players there. A country missing from that list still needs its own check: destination-country law, licence conditions, suppliers and payment providers can impose extra limits.
Which countries are restricted?
NOGA's restricted-country document names Australia, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, St. Kitts and Nevis, the United Kingdom and the United States. It also includes all FATF-blacklisted countries, sanctioned countries and other jurisdictions prohibited by NOGA.
Restriction | Required assessment |
|---|---|
Named territories | Add each one to the blocking policy; supplier acceptance cannot override the prohibition |
FATF-blacklisted countries | Check the current list and how NOGA reads it; do not silently substitute the grey list |
Sanctioned countries | Identify which sanctions apply and track updates, including person and transaction restrictions |
Other NOGA prohibitions | Track regulatory instructions and the conditions attached to the licence |
Paragraph 6(d) of Regulations, Schedule 3 makes geo-IP blocking a B2C application document. The B2B list in paragraph 7 has no such item. Clause 2 of the License Conditions goes further. It covers marketing, promotion, knowingly registering players and offering games to residents of prohibited countries. Check every advertising campaign against these rules, whatever the payment provider accepts.
How do you assess an unlisted country?
Establish permission for the proposed product and entity. Silence in the Nevis list is not permission. Clause 6 of the License Conditions requires all reasonable efforts to establish whether online gaming is lawful wherever the licensee accepts players. That includes legal opinions when necessary.
Layer | Question to resolve | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
Nevis approval | Is the territory or activity prohibited or outside the approval? | Current conditions, restrictions and any written clarification |
Destination law | May this entity offer and advertise this product to these players? | Current local sources and a scoped legal assessment |
Sanctions and AML | Which country, person, ownership or transaction restrictions apply? | Applicable official sources; screening and escalation rules |
Games and platform | May the proposed content and service be supplied there? | Provider contracts and confirmed scope |
Payments | Will the provider support this entity, product and territory? | Underwriting position, merchant terms and method restrictions |
A favourable result in one layer does not cancel a prohibition in another. For Canada or South Africa, define the country or subnational territory, product, operator and advertising channel before seeking local advice. This page does not clear any of those markets. Split Latin American or Asian plans into individual jurisdictions and approve each one separately.
B2B supply is a separate question
A supplier's customer location, that customer's operator licence and its players' locations are different facts. Record all three and check the supplier and operator obligations separately. A foreign operator licence does not decide whether the supply fits the Nevis supplier's scope or contracts. Use the B2B responsibility guide when several entities share the operation.
Keep one market decision record
The record should make the decision reproducible: another team member must be able to see what was approved, by whom and on which evidence.
Field | Required entry in your internal record |
|---|---|
Scope | Country/territory, product, players, acquisition channel and legal entity |
Source trail | Nevis conditions, local assessment and sanctions sources with version/date |
Partners | Relevant platform, game and payment restrictions and acceptance evidence |
Outcome | Blocked, pending or approved within scope, with reasons and approver |
Controls | Registration, access, payments, marketing and exception-handling rules |
Validation | Test owner, configurations, outcomes and unresolved failures |
Review trigger | Law, licence, provider, product, entity or control changes; next internal review |
For example, an unlisted market remains pending if the platform supports it but local advice and payment acceptance are outstanding. Keep it pending until the named approver has reviewed every open condition. One provider's positive reply does not replace a missing local-law assessment.
Turn the record into testable controls
Test the agreed policy across registration, login, game access, deposits, withdrawals, advertising, mobile apps and related domains. Use authorised test accounts and controlled environments. Record configuration versions, conflicting residency and location signals, escalations and the fix for each failure.
These are operational recommendations, not a prescribed NOGA technology stack. Test the whole relevant journey. A blocked registration screen does not show that existing-account or mobile routes follow the rule. Give affiliates the approved targeting rules and name the entity responsible for monitoring them.
What changes the decision after launch?
Reassess after a new restriction, legal change, provider condition, product, entity or observed control failure. If an update affects existing customers, ask legal and compliance how to handle balances, communications and access. Do not derive a withdrawal policy from a country list alone.
Assign the market decision to a named owner and keep legal, compliance, product and commercial responsibilities explicit. A platform's default settings are not an assessment of your business. Choose an internal review interval that fits the operation; this guide does not invent a statutory one.
Check market fit before paying for the licence
If the revenue plan relies on a prohibited territory, address that conflict before you form the company or commit to a platform. Bring MGL Solutions your market record, products, ownership and provider assumptions so we can check whether Nevis fits the plan.
The Nevis licensing service covers the application and budget. Discuss your market plan to scope the licensing work and see which country-specific advice you need separately. For provider options, see gaming payment solutions.
Navigating the gaming license process can be complex. Here's a streamlined guide to each step