Complete guide about Form DS-160 (Non-immigrant US Visas)

Surya Rathee
[Published 16 Sep, 2022 | 02:56 PM]
About Author - 4 min read

People who want to apply for a temporary visa to come to the US use the online non-immigrant visa application, often known as Form DS-160. If you want to move permanently to the United States, you should not use this form. You would have to submit a green card application for that. You will be asked a number of questions on Form DS-160 about your background, your family, and a variety of other personal matters to ascertain your eligibility. These responses, along with the in-person interview, will determine whether or not you are granted a visa.

The U.S. Department of State Consular Electronic Application Center accepts electronic applications for Form DS-160. It will take about 90 minutes to complete the entire form, and you are welcome to enlist the help of others, such as a knowledgeable immigration specialist. However, unless you are excluded under US law, you must sign and submit your application electronically. If you don't know English, you can change the form's language by clicking the "Select Tooltip Language" link in the top right corner of the page. French, German, Italian, Hindi, Chinese, Hebrew, and other languages are among those that can be selected.

Requirements to fill DS-160 form online

• An applicant's digital photo in a certain format. When you go for your visa interview at the consulate, you can bring a printed copy of your photo if you are unable to upload or supply the right one during the online application submission.
• You need to be aware of which consulate you will be interviewing at. 
• You need a dependable internet connection because you must submit the application online.
• Applicant's passport information, including name as it appears on the document, date of birth, date of issue, date of expiration, and passport number.

• Information regarding the applicant's family (Name of parents of each applicant, occupation, mailing address, work address, income, etc).
• Give the address of your accommodation.
• Name and address of any American relatives you may have.
• Your social security number and US tax ID number, if you are a resident of the US.
• Date of a most recent trip, if any, to the US.

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Technical Requirements

• Both JavaScript and 128-bit encryption must be supported by your web browser.
• Internet Explorer (Windows) must be version 5.0 service pack 2 or later as a minimum.
• Netscape 6.2 or a later version must be the minimum requirement.
• To print a copy of the confirmation page, it is advised that you have a laser printer connected to your computer. As an alternative, you can copy and paste a screenshot into a Word document for subsequent printing (Shift + Prt Sc button).

About filling out Form DS-160

• Give accurate and sincere information. Enter the information requested into the appropriate spaces in each window. Respond to all inquiries. Except for the question requesting your complete name in your native alphabet, all of your responses must be given in English and must use English characters.
• The majority of the form's questions are self-explanatory, and sufficient justification is provided for self-help. Give accurate information. For fields that are not applicable, select “does not apply”.
• Your application can be momentarily saved on the internet. Please save your application permanently to a file on your local computer if you expect to be gone from the online form for longer than 20 minutes. In any event, it may be a good idea to keep storing your data on your local computer so you may pick up where you left off if you are unable to finish the application in a single sitting.
• The session you are using to complete this online application will expire if there is no activity for 20 minutes or more, and any information you have provided will be lost.
• If you're using a shared computer, be careful to remove the file once your application has been submitted successfully.
• The system does not recognize letters or other special characters.
• Check the accuracy of the data you entered.
• The confirmation page should be printed.
• Throughout the entire visa application procedure, carry the confirmation page with you at all times.