A DS-160 family application is not a single joint form. Every traveler needs their own DS-160, but the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) lets you link them: the primary applicant submits first, and then a “Family/Group Application” option on the Thank You page spawns a new form for each dependent that carries over the shared travel details. Each family member ends up with a separate Application ID and confirmation barcode, and the embassy can see the forms belong together so you can interview as a group.
What to Have Ready for Every Family Member
The DS-160 session times out after 20 minutes of inactivity, and unsaved data disappears when it does. Gather everything for everyone, including infants, before you open the first form:
- A valid passport for each applicant, plus any previous passports that show travel history.
- Full legal names, dates and places of birth, and both parents’ full names for each person.
- Dates of the last five U.S. trips, if any, and international travel from the past five years.
- Current employer or school for each applicant. A non-working spouse should have prior employment details ready; school-age children need their school’s name and address.
- A compliant digital photo for each applicant. The form will not let you move on without a successful upload.
- Social media usernames for every listed platform used in the past five years, for each applicant.
- A U.S. point of contact: a host, hotel, or sponsoring organization with an address and phone number.
Consular officers do not ask for social media passwords, but they do use the handles you disclose as part of vetting.1U.S. Department of State. Frequently Asked Questions on Social Media Identifiers in the DS-160 and DS-260
Photo Rules, Especially for Babies
Each uploaded photo must be a square JPEG between 600 × 600 and 1,200 × 1,200 pixels, under 240 kilobytes, taken against a white or off-white background within the last six months, with no filters or digital alterations.2Travel.State.Gov. Digital Image Requirements
Infant and toddler photos are where families most often get stuck. No one else can appear in the frame, and the child must face the camera with eyes open. The State Department suggests laying the baby on a plain white sheet and photographing from directly above, or seating the child in a car seat draped with a white sheet so the head stays supported.3Travel.State.Gov. Photo Requirements
Filing the Primary Applicant’s Form First
Start a new DS-160 on the CEAC website.4U.S. Department of State. DS-160: Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application After you pick a security question, the system assigns a unique Application ID. Write it down right away. You will need it to retrieve the form if the session ends and to schedule the interview later. Save your progress often. The form covers personal history, travel plans, employment, education, and security questions, and correcting anything after submission means starting over.
Creating the Linked Applications for Dependents
When the primary applicant submits their DS-160, CEAC generates a Confirmation Page with a barcode. On that page, select “Email Confirmation.” The next screen is a Thank You page that offers an option to create a family or group application.5U.S. Department of State. DS-160: Frequently Asked Questions Choosing that option opens a fresh DS-160 for the next family member that pulls over shared trip details, so you skip retyping the destination and similar fields.
Repeat for every dependent: submit one form, use the Thank You page to spawn the next. Every applicant still receives their own Application ID and their own confirmation barcode. The link only tells the embassy the forms belong to one household.
What Differs on a Child’s or Spouse’s Form
Most fields on a dependent’s DS-160 still need individual answers. A few points catch families out.
For any applicant under 16, a parent or legal guardian completes and electronically signs the form. That parent’s identity is recorded on the “Sign and Submit” page. If someone other than a parent is helping an applicant who cannot complete the form themselves, that helper is also identified on the same page.5U.S. Department of State. DS-160: Frequently Asked Questions
The employment and education sections cannot be left blank on anyone’s form. A non-working spouse enters prior employment; school-age children enter their school name and address. Every applicant, regardless of age, has to answer the security and background questions individually. Print each dependent’s confirmation page as soon as it is generated. You need every one of them to schedule and to interview.
If You Notice a Mistake After Submitting
There is no edit button for a submitted DS-160. The workaround is to file a fresh DS-160 with the correct answers and print its confirmation page. If you already used the original Application ID to pay the fee or book the interview, bring both confirmation pages to the embassy so the officer can pull the corrected version.5U.S. Department of State. DS-160: Frequently Asked Questions Catching it at the interview itself is riskier. Some posts will let you step out, submit a corrected form nearby, and return the same day; others will not. Only the applicant can edit their form.
Paying Fees and Booking One Appointment
After every family member’s DS-160 is submitted, pay the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fee for each applicant, including children. It is non-refundable. The amount depends on the visa category:
- $185 for most non-petition-based visas, including B (tourist/business), F (student), J (exchange visitor), and M (vocational student).
- $205 for petition-based categories, including H, L, O, and P.
- $315 for E visas (treaty trader/investor).
- $265 for K visas (fiancé or spouse of a U.S. citizen).
A family of four applying for B-1/B-2 tourist visas pays $740 in MRV fees before anyone reaches the embassy.6U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services Depending on nationality, an approved visa may also carry a separate reciprocity issuance fee; the State Department’s country-by-country tool shows whether one applies.7Travel.State.Gov. U.S. Visa: Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country
Fee payments are typically valid for 365 days. Use the U.S. Embassy or Consulate website for the post where you plan to interview, since scheduling rules are country-specific.4U.S. Department of State. DS-160: Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application When booking, you enter each family member’s confirmation barcode. Choose the group appointment option, or add dependents to the primary applicant’s profile, so the whole family gets one time slot.
Interview Waivers No Longer Cover Young Children or Elderly Relatives
This one matters for family groups. Before October 2025, applicants under 14 or over 79 could often skip the in-person interview. As of October 1, 2025, nearly every nonimmigrant visa applicant must appear in person, regardless of age.8U.S. Department of State. Interview Waiver Update September 18, 2025
The narrow exceptions that remain include diplomatic and official visa holders, certain B-1/B-2 renewals filed within 12 months of the prior visa’s expiration by applicants who were at least 18 when that visa was issued, and certain H-2A renewals under similar conditions. For most first-time family applications, every person on the group booking, infants included, has to be at the embassy.
Checking Status After the Interview
Track each family member’s visa separately at ceac.state.gov using the case number from that person’s DS-160 confirmation page, the applicant’s passport number, and the first five letters of the surname.9CEAC Visa Status Check. Visa Status Check Processing can move at different speeds even within one household. If one applicant’s case lags, it is not automatically a problem; administrative processing sometimes attaches to a single person in a group rather than the whole family.