DS-160 Nonimmigrant Visa Application: Filing, Fees, and Interview

To complete the DS-160 nonimmigrant visa application, go to ceac.state.gov, select the U.S. embassy or consulate where you plan to interview, and work through the online form section by section, saving as you go. Most people finish in 60 to 90 minutes if their documents are ready. When you submit, the system produces a confirmation page with a barcode. Print it. That page, your passport, and your fee receipt are what tie you to your submitted application from that point forward.

Gather Everything Before You Open the Form

The DS-160 session times out after roughly 20 minutes of inactivity. You can save your progress and return within 30 days using the Application ID the system assigns when you begin, but searching for documents mid-session is the most common reason people lose data.¹

Have these ready:

Your passport. It generally must be valid for at least six months beyond your intended stay, though citizens of many countries are exempt under bilateral agreements that extend validity six months past the printed expiration.²
Travel plans: intended arrival date, length of stay, and a U.S. address where you will be staying.
Dates of your last five trips to the United States, if any.
A U.S. point of contact: name, address, and phone number of a person or organization who can verify the purpose of your trip.
Full names and dates of birth for both parents.
Current and previous employers (names, addresses, job titles, dates) and education history.
Social media usernames for the platforms listed on the form.
A digital photo that meets the State Department’s technical requirements.

Starting the Application

At ceac.state.gov, click “Start an Application” under the DS-160 heading. The first step is choosing the embassy or consulate where you plan to interview. Pick carefully. That choice determines where your data is sent, and changing it later means starting over.

The system then generates your Application ID, a string starting with “AA” that appears in the upper-right corner of every page. Write it down or screenshot it immediately. You also set a security question and answer, which you will need to retrieve a saved application if your session drops. Each page has a “Save” button at the bottom. Use it frequently. A partially completed application stays in the system for 30 days before it is deleted.¹

Working Through the Form

Personal and Contact Information

Enter your full legal name exactly as it appears in your passport, including your name in your native alphabet if it does not use Latin characters. If you have ever used other names — maiden names, religious names, or name changes — list them all. Provide your current home address, primary and secondary phone numbers, and email addresses. The form also asks for the name and contact information of your U.S. point of contact, which can be a hotel, university, employer, or individual sponsor.

Social Media Identifiers

Nearly all nonimmigrant visa applicants must provide their social media usernames. The exemptions are limited to certain diplomatic and official categories (A-1, A-2, G-1 through G-4, and NATO visas). Select each platform you use and enter your handle. If you have not used social media in the past five years, you can indicate that instead. The State Department uses this information as part of its security screening to confirm identity and assess admissibility.³

Security and Background Questions

This section covers medical conditions, criminal history, prior immigration violations, and security-related topics. It asks about communicable diseases, drug use, arrests, deportations, and overstays. Answer every question honestly, even when the answer is unfavorable. The State Department already has records of your prior interactions with the U.S. immigration system, and a false answer can trigger a finding of willful misrepresentation under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i), which makes you permanently inadmissible.⁴

Prior Visa Refusals

The form asks: “Have you ever been refused a U.S. Visa, been refused admission to the United States, or withdrawn your application for admission at the point of entry?” If any U.S. embassy or consulate has ever denied you a visa stamp, answer “Yes,” even if a later application for the same visa type was approved. When explaining, include the consulate location and approximate date. Denials issued by USCIS, such as a rejected petition or status extension, are a different matter and do not count as “visa refusals” for this question.

The Photo

The DS-160 requires a digital photograph that meets precise standards:

In color, taken within the last six months
Shot against a plain white or off-white background
A square JPEG, between 600 × 600 and 1,200 × 1,200 pixels, no larger than 240 KB⁵
Neutral facial expression, both eyes open, mouth closed

Eyeglasses are not allowed. The only exception is when glasses cannot be removed for medical reasons, and even then you need a signed statement from a medical professional.⁶ If the upload fails during submission, you can bring a printed photo that meets these requirements to your interview instead.¹

Signing and Submitting

The final page asks you to review your answers and electronically sign the application. Under 22 CFR 41.103, you must personally click the “Sign Application” button, even if someone else helped you fill out the form. Only applicants who qualify for a specific exemption, such as minors or those with certain disabilities, can have someone else sign for them.⁷ Clicking that button certifies under penalty of perjury that everything in the application is true and complete.

After submission, the system generates a confirmation page with a barcode and a unique confirmation number starting with “AA.” Print it immediately. It is the only document linking you to your submitted application, and you will need it at every stage going forward. The system also offers an option to email the confirmation page to yourself as a backup.¹

Paying the Fee and Booking the Interview

Submitting the DS-160 does not pay the fee or schedule your interview. Those are separate steps. The nonimmigrant visa application fee, often called the MRV fee, is nonrefundable and varies by category:⁸

$185 for tourist and business (B), student (F, M), exchange visitor (J), transit (C-1), media (I), and most other non-petition categories
$205 for petition-based work visas including H, L, O, P, Q, and R
$315 for treaty trader and investor visas (E category)
$265 for the K category (fiancé(e) or spouse of a U.S. citizen)

Payment methods differ by country. Some embassies accept online payment; others require a bank deposit or payment at a designated location. Once paid, the fee receipt is valid for one year.

To schedule the interview, log in to the visa appointment website for the embassy or consulate you selected on your DS-160, typically at ais.usvisa-info.com. Enter your DS-160 confirmation number, and make sure the personal details in your appointment profile match what you put on the DS-160 exactly: name, passport number, date of birth, and visa class. If they don’t match, the system may block you from completing the scheduling process. Wait times vary widely by location and season; the State Department publishes estimated wait times by embassy, updated monthly.⁹

Fixing a Mistake After You Submit

You cannot edit a DS-160 after submission. If you find an error, fill out a new application. The CEAC website has a shortcut: when you start a new DS-160, you can import data from a previously submitted application by entering the old Application ID. That pulls your old answers into a fresh form so you only change the fields that were wrong.

Submitting the corrected form produces a new confirmation number. Update that number in your visa appointment profile: log in to the appointment scheduling site, go to your applicant settings, and replace the old DS-160 number with the new one. Do this at least a few business days before your interview. If the barcode in your appointment profile doesn’t match the barcode on your most recently submitted DS-160, you may face delays or be turned away at the consulate.¹⁰ Consular officers can sometimes correct minor details verbally during the interview, but anything substantive requires formal resubmission.

1
U.S. Department of State. DS-160 Frequently Asked Questions
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U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 403.9 NIV Issuances
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U.S. Department of State. FAQs on Social Media Collection
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U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 302.9 Ineligibility Based on Fraud and Misrepresentation
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U.S. Department of State. Digital Image Requirements
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U.S. Department of State. Photo Requirements
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eCFR. 22 CFR 41.103 – Filing an Application
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U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services
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U.S. Department of State. Global Visa Wait Times
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U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. Verify and Update Your DS-160 Barcode Before Your Visa Interview