How to fill the DS-160 visa form: step by step with pictures

Your purpose and your form

For a family

• Make one separate DS-160 for each person: parents, children and babies
• A parent or guardian fills in the form for a child and signs for them
• Each form gets its own Application ID and its own confirmation barcode
• You may list family members who travel with you as travel companions, but that does not combine the forms
• Ask your embassy how it books appointments for families. Each person usually pays the visa fee

Have these ready

• Your passport (the photo page), and any older passports
• A digital photo that follows the photo rules (see step 10)
• An email address you check every day, and your phone number
• Your home address, and an address where you will stay in the U.S.
• Your trip plan: arrival date, how long, where you will stay and who is paying
• Students: your I-20 with the SEVIS ID and the school's name and address
• Workers: the receipt number from your employer's approved petition (the I-797 notice)
• Past U.S. trips and any earlier U.S. visas, with dates
• Details of your family: parents' names and birth dates, and your spouse's if you have one
• Your work or study history: names, addresses, dates, and what you did
• The countries you visited in the last 5 years
• Your social media usernames from the last 5 years

• Go only to the official State Department DS-160 page, the "CEAC" site: official DS-160 site. Search engines show copycat sites that charge money
• Choose the location: the U.S. embassy or consulate where you will have your interview
• Choose Nonimmigrant Visa (DS-160) and tap Start
• Type the letters in the security picture

Save your way back

• Write down the Application ID (it begins with letters, like AA00...)
• Pick a security question and an answer you will remember
• Tap Save often. The form closes by itself if you leave it idle for around 20 minutes
• To return later you use the Application ID, the first letters of your surname, your birth year and your security answer

• Write your surname and given names exactly as in the passport. No nicknames
• Dates are written like 15-MAR-1999 (day, three letters for the month, year)
• If a question does not apply to you, tick "Does not apply" instead of leaving it empty
• Give your nationality and your city of birth
• Choose your marital status honestly

• Passport number: read it twice, letter by letter
• The date it was issued and the date it expires
• The country and city that issued it
• Say whether you ever lost a passport or had one stolen, if it asks
• Keep the passport valid for the whole trip. Ask your embassy about any extra validity rule

• Choose the purpose that is really true. A wrong one can cause a refusal
• Say if you have fixed travel dates or not. If yes, give the arrival date and how long you will stay
• Give the address where you will stay in the U.S., or the school or employer address
• Say who is paying for your trip. If another person pays, you may need their details
• List the people traveling with you, if the form asks. This is helpful for families
• Add your earlier U.S. trips and visas, and any U.S. driver's licence

• Purpose of trip: Academic student (F), then pick F-1 if it asks you to be more specific
• Type the SEVIS ID from the top of your I-20 (it starts with the letter N)
• Type the school name and address exactly as on the I-20
• Write your course or program and the start date
• Your I-20 must be signed by you and the school before the interview
• Pay the SEVIS fee and keep the receipt. See our visa fee guide
• A husband, wife or child who comes with you uses F-2 and fills in their own DS-160

• Purpose of trip: Temporary worker (H), then H1B for a specialty occupation
• Your employer must have an approved petition first. You cannot do this step before that
• Type the petition receipt number from the I-797 notice, exactly
• Type the employer name and address and your job title
• Work history: list your earlier jobs and your degree, as in the petition
• A husband, wife or child uses H-4 and fills in their own DS-160. Add the worker's petition details if it asks

• Your home address and your phone number, with the country code
• An email you check every day. The embassy may write to you
• Social media: list the usernames of the accounts you used in the last 5 years. Do not list passwords
• Students and exchange visitors may be asked to make accounts public. Check your embassy's page for the current rule
• If you have no accounts, choose the "None" answer

• Father's and mother's names and birth dates. If you do not know a date, there is a "do not know" choice
• Say whether your parents are in the U.S., and in what status, if the form asks
• If you are married, your spouse's name, birth date and address
• Say whether you have relatives in the U.S. and who they are. Answer truthfully. Having relatives there is not a wrong answer
• For a child's form, write the child's own information, not yours

• Choose your main occupation: student, employee, business owner, retired, homemaker, and so on
• Name your employer or school, its address and phone number, and your start date
• Write what you do, in a short and clear sentence
• Add your earlier jobs and schools if the form asks
• Students: add your SEVIS ID and the school name from your I-20

• Read every question. Many are about health, crime, earlier visa refusals, staying too long in the U.S., and more
• If the answer is Yes, the form asks you to explain. Write a short, true explanation
• If you were refused a U.S. visa before, say so. See our 214(b) refusal guide
• If someone is helping you, say so when it asks

• Taken in the last 6 months, in color
• A plain white or off-white background, with no shadows
• Face straight to the camera, eyes open, mouth closed, with a plain look
• No glasses. No hat or head covering, unless for a religious or medical reason, with your face fully visible
• A square picture, about 600 to 1200 pixels wide, as a small JPEG file. Follow the exact limits on the official page
• Never filter, retouch or change the photo
• If the photo fails to upload, take a new one. A photo shop that makes "visa photos" can help

• Use the Review pages and read every answer once more
• Check your name, birth date, and passport number against your passport
• If you used a helper, check that they typed your real answers
• Tap Sign and Submit and type the code shown
• You cannot change the form after you submit it

• Print the confirmation page, or save it as a PDF, and also email it to yourself
• Keep your Application ID too
• Next: pay the visa fee as your embassy says. See our visa fee guide
• Then book your interview on the official embassy booking page. See appointment waits
• Prepare your papers with our interview checklist