Case StudyHow a Romanian Visa Agency Cut DS-160 Processing Time by 96%
VizeAmerica.com handles up to 200 DS-160s in a busy week with a five-person team. Each application used to cost 120–125 minutes of staff time. Now it takes under five. Read the full blog post.
About VizeAmerica.com
VizeAmerica.com is a Romanian visa agency specializing in US nonimmigrant visa applications. With a five-person team, they handle client intake, DS-160 form preparation, document review, and interview scheduling, processing up to 200 applications per week.
History
Before VizeAmerica.com was a business, it was a favor. Back in 2001, the founder was the only person in their village who spoke English and had internet access. Neighbors would come to the house for help filing paperwork to the US Consulate in Bucharest.
"We had lots of people come over to the house for me to help them file paperwork to the US Consulate in Bucharest, Romania."
In 2006, they put that knowledge online. vizeamerica.com launched as a free Romanian-language resource for US visa applicants — something the embassy itself didn't offer at the time.
"The US embassy had no Romanian pages back then. Then slowly we started offering paid services as more and more people found the website."
Word spread. SEO helped. The site became one of the most prominent results on Romanian search engines for US visa queries, and a paying business grew around it.
The Problem
Five staff, and a queue that could reach 200 DS-160s in a week. Every application done by hand: 120–125 minutes each, counting the intake call, the back-and-forth and the typing into CEAC.
Invisible errors made it worse — extra spaces failing validation, dates entered in the wrong format. Small mistakes that ate hours at scale.
Then a client showed up with 165 applicants in a single group.
"That is when I said to myself, OK, let's look for an automation solution or build one myself."
The Solution
The team replaced their manual client intake forms with DS160.io's white-labelled intake forms — with automatic progress tracking and alerts that eliminated back-and-forth with applicants.
The Results
Applications that cost 120–125 minutes now take 4–5 minutes of staff time. The team reviews pre-filled data, kicks off automated submission, and moves on. A 200-form week, which used to be out of reach, is about 17 hours of review.
"It took around 120-125 minutes for each form before we started using DS160.io, and that has allowed us to go down to 4-5 minutes per form, once we start the submission process via the agency interface."
How the Extra Time Is Used
With DS-160s off their plate, the team focuses on what matters — interview scheduling, client communications, and post-filing support. Same team, more clients.
"Staff is using the extra hours gained from the use of DS160.io to better manage the post-DS160 process: the actual visa interview scheduling steps."