The DS-160 Form: What It Is and How to Fill It Out

The DS-160 is the online application every applicant for a US nonimmigrant visa — tourist, student, worker, exchange visitor, or fiancé(e) — must complete at the official ceac.state.gov site, entirely in English, at no cost. It takes about 90 minutes on average, autosaves as you go, and forms the backbone of your interview: most of the questions a consular officer asks are pulled directly from what you entered here.

Quick Facts

• What it is: The mandatory online application for any US nonimmigrant visa
• Where: ceac.state.gov/genniv — the only official source
• Cost: The form itself is free; a separate visa application (MRV) fee applies before you can book an interview — see our fees breakdown
• Time: About 90 minutes, savable for up to 30 days
• Who fills it out: Every applicant, including children, completes a separate form

Which Visa Categories Require a DS-160?

The DS-160 isn’t specific to one visa type — it covers nearly every nonimmigrant category, including:

Category	Covers
B1/B2	Tourism, family/friend visits, business meetings, conferences
F1/F2	University, high school, or language study, and dependents
J1/J2	Work and Travel, internships, academic exchange, and dependents
M1/M2	Vocational and technical training
C1/D	Transit passengers and airline/ship crew
H1B, H2A, H2B, H3	Specialty, seasonal, and trainee work categories
L1	Intracompany transferees
O, P, Q, R	Extraordinary ability, athletes/entertainers, cultural exchange, religious workers
K1	Fiancé(e) of a US citizen

Immigrant visas (Green Card processes) use a different form entirely — DS-260, not DS-160.

Before You Start: What You’ll Need

Having the following ready before you open the form saves time and reduces the risk of a session timing out mid-entry:

• A valid passport
• A digital photo meeting the requirements below
• Usernames for every social media platform you’ve used in the last 5 years
• Current phone number, email, and home address
• International travel history for the last 5 years (dates and countries)
• Education history — institutions, addresses, and dates
• Employment history — employer, position, salary, and start date
• Your parents’ (and spouse’s, if applicable) full names and birth dates
• Details of a US address or contact, if you have one
• Your previous US visa number and issue date, if applicable

Category-specific requirements also apply — F1/J1/M1 applicants need the SEVIS ID from their I-20 or DS-2019, and petition-based work categories (H1B, H2, H3, L, O, P, R) need their I-129 petition number.

Accessing and Starting the Form

Access the DS-160 only through ceac.state.gov/genniv. A few things to watch for when you begin:

• Use an up-to-date Chrome, Firefox, or Edge browser; Safari occasionally causes compatibility issues.
• You’ll select where you’re interviewing from a country/post dropdown — applicants based in Turkey select Turkey, Ankara or Turkey, Istanbul.
• After entering the security code, note down your Application ID along with your chosen security question and answer — without them, you can’t return to an unfinished form.

Filling Out the DS-160: Section by Section

The form moves through a sequence of pages, saving as you complete each one:

1. Personal — name, gender, marital status, date and place of birth, national ID number
2. Travel — your visa category and trip details; you don’t need a confirmed flight or hotel booking to continue
3. Travel Companions — anyone traveling with you
4. Previous US Travel — prior US visits, visas, or refusals
5. Address and Phone — current contact details, including all social media usernames from the last 5 years
6. Passport — passport number, type, and validity dates
7. US Contact — a US contact person or, if you don’t have one, your hotel information
8. Family — parents’ and spouse’s details, plus any US-based relatives
9. Work/Education/Training — employment or school details and languages spoken
10. Security and Background — a series of yes/no questions on health, criminal history, and related topics
11. Upload Photo — your digital photo (specifications below)
12. Review — your last chance to correct any errors before submitting
13. Sign and Submit — enter your passport number and the security code to electronically sign and submit
14. Confirmation — your barcoded confirmation page, which you’ll need for your interview

What Changed in 2025–2026

Three updates are worth knowing if you’re applying now:

Your barcode must match your appointment exactly. Since May 2025, the “AA” barcode on your DS-160 confirmation page must be identical to the DS-160 number tied to your appointment record — a mismatch means you won’t be admitted to your interview. Our USTravelDocs guide covers the current appointment platform and its rules in full.

F, M, and J applicants must keep social media public. Following a June 2025 State Department policy update, applicants in these categories must set the social media accounts they disclose to public visibility during the review period, alongside the existing requirement (in place since 2019) to disclose the usernames themselves.

A $250 Visa Integrity Fee has been authorized but is not yet being collected. Federal legislation passed in mid-2025 created this additional fee for nonimmigrant visa holders, separate from the MRV fee below. As of this writing, the Department of Homeland Security has not yet published the implementation guidance needed to begin collecting it, and it does not appear on the State Department’s current fee schedule — see our fees guide for the latest on where this stands.

Applying as a Family or Group

Each applicant — including infants — completes a separate DS-160; there’s no single family form. The process is still designed to work together:

1. The person organizing the trip completes and signs their own DS-160 first.
2. Adding family members under “Travel Companions” opens a linked DS-160 for each of them, carrying over shared trip details automatically.
3. On your consulate’s official appointment system — ustraveldocs.com, in Turkey — each family member’s barcode number and passport details are added to a shared group.
4. Payment is made separately for each applicant — there’s no bulk payment option.
5. The group is scheduled for the same date and time, and typically attends the interview together.

DS-160 Photo Requirements

Requirement	Specification
Format	JPEG
Dimensions	Square (1:1), 600×600 to 1200×1200 pixels
File size	Under 240 KB
Background	White or off-white, plain
Recency	Taken within the last 6 months
Expression	Neutral, facing the camera, mouth closed
Head size	50–69% of the photo’s height
Glasses	Not permitted, except for documented medical need

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Special characters and diacritics aren’t accepted. The form uses standard English (Latin) characters only, except in the one field for “Full Name in Native Alphabet” — so if your language uses accented letters or a non-Latin script, plan to romanize them for every other field. Turkish is a good example:

Turkish	On the DS-160
Çelik	Celik
Gürkan	Gurkan
İstanbul	Istanbul
Özkan	Ozkan
Şahin	Sahin
Ünal	Unal

Session timeouts. The form officially times out after 20 minutes of inactivity, though slower connections can make that feel shorter — get in the habit of clicking Save after every section.

The 30-day rule. An unfinished DS-160 is retrievable with your Application ID and security question for 30 days. After that, it’s automatically deleted and you’ll need to start over.

Inconsistency. Your name spelling, birth date, passport number, and travel/work history must match your passport and your eventual interview answers exactly — mismatches are a common trigger for 214(b) refusals.

No edits after submission. Once signed and sent, nothing can be changed. Any error means completing a new form and updating your appointment with the new barcode number.

After You Submit: Confirmation, Appointment, and Interview

Print only the barcoded confirmation page — not the entire form — and make sure the barcode is clean and legible. From there, you’ll pay the visa fee and book your interview through your consulate’s official appointment system — ustraveldocs.com, in Turkey — making sure the barcode number on your appointment matches the confirmation page you’re bringing with you. For what to expect once you’re in the room, see our visa interview guide.

Made a Mistake on Your DS-160?

You can correct anything freely before submitting — that’s exactly what the Review step is for. Once it’s signed and sent, though, no changes are possible. If you spot an error afterward, you’ll need to complete a new DS-160 and, if you’ve already booked an appointment, update the barcode number tied to it before your interview date.

Get Help With Your DS-160

From the security-history questions to keeping your passport details, barcode, and appointment fully in sync, small DS-160 mistakes are a common and avoidable cause of delays. Request a free pre-assessment to get started.