Verified against official sources — 29 Oct 2026
DS-160 Guide for B1/B2 Visitor Applicants: Completing the Online Visa Application Form
NEW Published 29 October 2026
A plain-language DS-160 guide for visitor applicants — what the form is, where you complete it, how the confirmation page works, and mistakes to avoid.
The DS-160 is the Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application. Every B-1 and B-2 applicant must submit one electronically through the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC). After submitting, print and keep the barcode confirmation page — you will not need to print the full application — and bring it to your interview. You must schedule the interview yourself and pay the application fee, currently $185 for the B category; confirm before paying. Answer truthfully, copy passport details exactly, and keep the purpose, dates, contact and payer you enter consistent with what you will say at interview.
SECTION 01What Is the DS-160, and Why Does Every Visitor Applicant File One?
The DS-160, Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application form, is for temporary travel to the United States, and for K (fiancé(e)) visas. State states it is submitted electronically to the Department of State website via the Internet. Consular officers use the information entered on the DS-160 to process the visa application and, combined with a personal interview, determine an applicant's eligibility for a nonimmigrant visa.
Your form therefore does not sit apart from your interview: it is read alongside what you say, so an answer can become a problem if you describe the same fact differently in person. State requires a completed DS-160 for all nonimmigrant visa categories, including K visas. B-1 and B-2 are nonimmigrant categories, so each visitor files this same form — no separate visitor version, and no paper alternative.
Because the officer uses your DS-160 together with your interview, accuracy and consistency are part of how eligibility is assessed. Work from your real documents.
SECTION 02Where Do You Complete the DS-160, and What Should You Have Ready First?
You complete the DS-160 online. State's DS-160 page directs applicants to the Consular Electronic Application Center website, ceac.state.gov, to access the form — use only that official route. State lists supported browsers: use only Internet Explorer 11 or higher, Firefox, or Google Chrome 58 when completing your application; Safari and Microsoft Edge are not supported. If pages behave strangely, changing browser is a sensible first step.
Before you start, gather what the form asks you to describe accurately. This list is editorial preparation guidance — the form and interview are read together, so having the real facts in front of you matters:
- Your passport. Names, date of birth and passport number are copied from it exactly. Have the passport you will travel on in front of you.
- Your trip details. Purpose, planned dates, where you will stay, and places you intend to visit. You do not need final bookings — State warns there is no guarantee you will be issued a visa, and advises against final travel plans or buying tickets until you have one — but you do need a clear, honest account of the trip.
- Your United States contact, if any, and who is paying. Describe the person or organisation you will visit or meet, and whether you or another person will cover some or all costs, in the same terms on the form and at interview. State notes additional documents may include evidence of ability to pay all costs of the trip.
- A compliant digital photo. You upload it while completing the form; see Section 06 if the upload fails.
You also select the location where you will apply. Choose the post where you will actually be interviewed — selecting one location and interviewing at another is a recognised source of confusion, addressed in the official DS-160 FAQ.
SECTION 03How Do You Start the Form, Save Your Progress, and Return to It Later?
Most applicants do not finish in one sitting. Two habits protect you:
- Write down the details the site gives you when you start. CEAC gives you application details needed to return to a partly completed form. Note them safely and exactly — without them, returning may not be possible and you could have to start again.
- Save early and save often. Save as you complete each part rather than leaving a long, unsaved session open, and do not leave the form idle expecting your work to still be there.
The precise session behaviour — how long an inactive session lasts, how a saved application is retrieved, how long it is kept, and the exact steps involved — is set out in the Department of State's DS-160 Frequently Asked Questions. Follow that page and the CEAC screens, not a third-party summary. This guide does not restate a timeout, retrieval sequence or retention limit it could not verify word for word.
If you lose access, use CEAC's retrieve option with the details you noted, following the official FAQ. Starting a duplicate leads to a Section 09 problem: two confirmation numbers. Family or group creation steps are likewise in the official FAQ and on the CEAC screens — and each traveller still needs their own application (Section 07).
SECTION 04Why Must Your Answers Match Your Passport Exactly, and Tell One Consistent Story?
State's DS-160 help guidance is specific. Enter all surnames (or family names) exactly as they are written in your passport. If only one name is written in your passport, enter that as your surname. If your passport does not include a first or given name, enter 'FNU' (meaning 'first name unknown') in the space for given names. Other names used include your maiden name, religious name, professional name, or any other name by which you are or have been known — disclose them where the form asks. Enter your date of birth as shown in your passport, and the number of the passport or travel document you will use to travel to the United States. That document must still be valid, and must identify you and your nationality; in most cases it must be valid for at least six months after your arrival.
Consistency beyond spelling
This is editorial preparation framing, based on the verified fact that officers use your form together with your interview: the purpose, travel dates, United States contact and payer you enter are the same facts you will be asked about. If the form describes a two-week holiday, your documents a three-month stay, and your answers business meetings, you have created needless doubt about all three.
- Purpose. State whether the trip is business, tourism, a family visit, medical treatment, or a combination, and keep that description stable.
- Dates. Give the dates you honestly intend, proportionate to the purpose. Do not adjust them to make the trip look different.
- Contact and payer. Name the person, organisation or place as you honestly know it, and describe who is paying the same way in the form, in any evidence, and in your answers. If you do not know a detail, say so rather than inventing one.
Before submitting, compare name, date of birth and passport number against your passport, line by line. Most errors discovered later are visible in that one pass. If an identity detail in the passport itself is wrong, resolve the passport — do not type a 'corrected' version into the DS-160 so the two disagree.
SECTION 05What Does Answering Truthfully Actually Mean on This Form?
Answer every question truthfully, including any question about previous refusals. If you were refused before, the honest answer is that you were, with the details asked for. A previous refusal is a fact to disclose, not to hide. State's visa denials guidance records that a person who attempted to receive a visa or enter the United States by wilfully misrepresenting a material fact or committing fraud is found ineligible under section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) — a permanent ineligibility. No tidier answer is worth that consequence.
- Do not invent details to make an answer look stronger — not a sponsor, not savings, not an invitation, not travel plans. Where something does not apply, answer as the form allows.
- Do not copy someone else's application. Their answers describe their life. Where your circumstances differ, your form must differ.
- Do not let anyone else complete the form with guesses. If someone helps you type, every answer must still be yours, checked by you, and explainable by you at interview.
SECTION 06What Do You Need to Know About the Photo Upload?
You will upload your photo while completing the online Form DS-160. If the photo upload fails, you must bring one printed photo in the format explained in the Photograph Requirements. Read those requirements on the official page before taking or choosing a photo, rather than relying on measurements copied onto a blog.
A failed upload is not a failed application — it changes what you bring. Bring one printed photo in the required format, and follow any additional instruction from the embassy or consulate where you will be interviewed.
SECTION 07Does Every Traveller File Their Own DS-160, Including Family Members?
Yes. State's visitor guidance is explicit: each individual who needs a visa must submit a separate application, including any family members listed in your passport. A spouse, parent or child does not travel on your application. Each person needs their own DS-160, checked against their own passport, and their own confirmation page — copying one member's details across every form multiplies a single slip across the group.
SECTION 08What Is the Correct Order of Steps, From Starting the Form to the Interview?
Use this sequence to place the DS-160 in the wider visitor process. Confirm local detail on the website of the embassy or consulate where you will be interviewed.
SECTION 09What Are the Most Common DS-160 Mistakes Visitor Applicants Make?
- Losing the barcode confirmation page. It is a required interview document. Print it and keep a copy.
- A name that does not match the passport. A nickname or reordered name creates a mismatch across passport, form and appointment record. Use 'FNU' only where the passport itself has no given name.
- Starting a duplicate instead of retrieving the saved form. A second application means a second confirmation number and confusion about which you are presenting.
- Answers that contradict the interview story. The officer uses form and interview together, so a changing purpose, date, contact or payer undermines both.
- Selecting the wrong application location. Choose the post where you will actually be interviewed, and check the DS-160 FAQ if plans change.
- Hiding a previous refusal, or relying on one family form. Disclose refusals where asked, and file separately for each traveller.
SECTION 10What Happens After You Submit, and Can You Change the Form?
State's DS-160 page lists the next steps: print and keep the barcode page; pay the visa application processing fee, reviewing country-specific instructions on your post's website; and schedule a visa interview appointment yourself — the embassy or consulate does not schedule for you. The B fee is currently $185: State's fees page lists the non-petition-based nonimmigrant fee (except E) as $185.00, with the row 'B — Visitor Visa: Business, Tourism, Medical treatment'. Confirm before paying, and keep your receipt if you pay before your interview.
Corrections after submission
Plan as if you cannot edit a submitted form. The correction rule — what may be changed, and when a new form is required — is set out in the DS-160 Frequently Asked Questions, which this guide links rather than restating unverified. If you do submit a new form, it produces a new confirmation number, and the page you bring must be the one your appointment uses: update the appointment record within your own post's deadline, which is post-specific, so check your post's website.
Do not arrive expecting staff to correct your application on the day. Follow the DS-160 FAQ, submit a corrected form if it directs that, update your appointment record, and bring the matching page.
FAQFrequently Asked Questions
Is the DS-160 the same as the visa application fee?
No. The DS-160 is the form. The fee is a separate payment — currently $185 for the B category; confirm before paying — made following your post's instructions.
Do I need to print my whole DS-160 application?
No. Print and keep the barcode page; you will not need to print the full application. The confirmation page is a required interview document.
What happens if my DS-160 photo upload fails?
Bring one printed photo in the format explained in the Photograph Requirements. A failed upload changes what you bring; it does not end your application.
Does my child, spouse or parent need their own DS-160?
Yes. Each individual who needs a visa must submit a separate application, including family members listed in your passport.
I was refused a visa before. What should I answer?
Answer truthfully and disclose the refusal wherever the form asks. Wilful misrepresentation of a material fact or fraud is a permanent ineligibility under section 212(a)(6)(C)(i).
I submitted the DS-160 and then found a mistake. What should I do?
Follow the DS-160 FAQ, the official source for post-submission corrections. A new form carries a new confirmation number: update it in your appointment record, within your post's deadline, and bring the matching page.
Official references and verification status
These references were checked on 29 October 2026, and this guide's core claims were verified against the passages in the accompanying sources file. Honest limits: the DS-160 FAQ page could only be fetched in part (its help-topics section), so the exact session timeout, the save and retrieval sequence and limits, the post-submission correction rule, the electronic-signature wording, and family or group application creation steps remain UNVERIFIED here — this guide links the official DS-160 FAQ and the CEAC screens for those points instead of asserting them. Post-specific instructions vary — check the website of the embassy or consulate where you will be interviewed.
- Department of State — DS-160: Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application
- Department of State — DS-160 Frequently Asked Questions
- Department of State — Visitor Visa
- Department of State — Fees for Visa Services
- Department of State — Visa Denials
General educational information, not individualized legal or financial advice. Follow official instructions and consult a qualified U.S. immigration attorney for case-specific questions.
General information only. This guide is based on official sources publicly available and checked on the date shown on this page. Visa rules change, and consular and USCIS officers decide every case on its own facts — nothing here is a confirmation or a guarantee for your individual case, and this is not legal advice. Always confirm the current requirement on the official page linked in this guide before you act, and consider a qualified immigration attorney for your specific situation.