E-Filing the DS-160

When you submit a form, we file it on the official DS-160 site (ceac.state.gov) from the first page through to the confirmation page. We fill in every page, upload the photo, and sign. The one thing we need from you is two security codes (captchas) that the official site shows along the way, because a person has to type them. We email you when each one is waiting. If your team would rather check each application on the official site and sign it yourselves, turn on Stop before signing: see Review before signing below.

Start a submission

Open the form and click View Submissions. Pick the Location — the U.S. embassy or consulate where the application will be filed — and click New Submission.

A submission will not start while a section of the form is incomplete, or is marked invalid in the form overview (for example, an answer containing a character the official site rejects). The message names the sections to fix. It also will not start if the application photo failed the DS-160 photo checks, until you tick the box to go ahead without it — see Document Storage & Photo Automation.

Your workspace’s security answer and preparer details are read when the submission starts.

What happens, step by step

1. The application is started. We open the official site and select the location. The site shows its first security code, and we email you.
2. The Application ID is issued. We answer the security question, then save the Application ID and the answer on the submission straight away, before anything else is filled in.
3. Every page is filled in. The submission page shows how many fields have been filled out of the total, with a progress bar that moves as each one is entered, and a table of the form’s steps.
4. The photo is uploaded to the official photo tool. If the photo will be taken in person at an Applicant Service Centre, this step is skipped.
5. Every page is reviewed and saved. The official site shows each page of the application back for review; we keep all of them as one PDF.
6. The preparer section is filled in, from your preparer details if you have them turned on, otherwise from the form’s answers.
7. The application is signed. The site shows its second security code on the Sign and Submit page, and we email you again. If your workspace stops before signing, the submission ends here instead, as Ready to sign.
8. Done. The submission shows Completed, with the confirmation number and the confirmation page.

Review before signing

If your team checks every application on the official site before it is signed, turn on Stop before signing under Workspace Settings → E-Filing → Review Before Signing and click Save. Only a workspace Owner or Admin can change it. It is read each time a submission starts.

Review Before Signing

Learn more about e-filing

Choose whether e-filing signs each application for you, or stops so your team can check it on the DS-160 site and sign it themselves.

Stop before signing

Every page is filled in, reviewed and saved as a PDF, then the submission stops before the Sign and Submit page and shows Ready to sign. Whoever started it gets an email. There is no second security code to enter: your team signs the application on the DS-160 site.

Save

With it on, steps 1 to 6 happen as usual, and the submission stops on the Sign and Submit page without signing:

• Only the first security code is asked for. There is no second code and no Action needed to submit email.
• The submission shows Ready to sign, and the person who started it gets a Ready to review and sign email.
• The PDF has every page, including the Sign and Submit page with the preparer section filled in, so you can check the application and keep a copy before anything is filed.

To finish, click Retrieve DS160 Form and open the application on ceac.state.gov with the Submission Details. Review the pages. On the Sign and Submit page, enter the passport number and tick the certification box if the site shows one, then sign and submit it there with the site’s own security code. Keep the confirmation page the site shows you: because the application is signed outside ds160.io, the submission stays Ready to sign and has no confirmation of its own. The official site keeps an unsigned application for 30 days.

Ready to review and sign

Filled in and unsigned, as your workspace asks. Open it on the DS-160 site with the Application ID below, check it, then sign and submit there.

The Sign and Submit page still needs the passport number, and the certification box if it appears.

Application ID: AA00EXAMPL

The security code emails

The official site asks for a security code twice: once when the application is started, and once on the Sign and Submit page. We cannot type them for you. When one is waiting, we email you:

• Action needed to continue — the first code, while the application is being started.
• Action needed to submit — the second code. By this point the application is completely filled in and only needs signing, so this is the one not to miss.

Click Enter the code in the email. It opens the submission, where the code’s image is shown with a countdown. Type the code exactly as shown and click Submit captcha; the submission carries on by itself.

Enter the code shown in the image

The code was not accepted

The DS-160 site did not accept that code. A new image is shown below — attempt 2 of 3.

4:03 remaining

Submit captcha

• You have about 5 minutes for each code.
• The emails go to whoever started the submission, but anyone in your workspace can open it and type the code. Nobody has to wait for the person who clicked New Submission to be at their screen.
• A refused code is not the end. If the official site does not accept a code, it shows a new image and you can try again — three tries in all.
• You do not need the email. While a code is waiting, the submission’s status reads Awaiting captcha or Awaiting signature captcha, and opening the submission shows the code.
• Stopping before signing skips the second code. If your workspace stops before signing, only the first code is asked for.

What you get

A completed submission shows:

• Confirmation — the confirmation number, and a download of the confirmation page. The applicant brings this to the visa interview.
• CEAC’s copy of your application — a PDF of every page the official site shows back for the application, including the confirmation page. Click Download PDF.
• Submission Details — the Application ID, the first five letters of the surname, the year of birth, and the security answer: everything needed to open the application on the official site. Retrieve DS160 Form takes you there.

Confirmation

Confirmation number

AA00EXAMPL

Bring this confirmation number and page with you to your visa interview.

CEAC's copy of your application

Everything filed, as one PDF, with the confirmation page once it is signed.

Download PDF

If a submission does not finish

Status	What happened	What to do
Captcha timed out or Captcha not accepted	The first code was not entered in time, or the site refused all three tries. Nothing was filled in.	Start a new submission.
Signature captcha timed out or Signature captcha not accepted	The application is completely filled in at the official site, but unsigned.	Open it on ceac.state.gov with the Submission Details and sign it yourself, or start a new submission.
Photo needed	There was no usable photo — none was on file, or you went ahead without one that failed the checks. We filled in the application and stopped before signing, because signing cannot be undone and the site needs the photo first.	Open the application on ceac.state.gov with the Submission Details, upload the photo, then sign and submit.
Ready to sign	Your workspace stops before signing. Every page is filled in and reviewed at the official site, and the PDF is saved.	Review it and sign it on ceac.state.gov; see Review before signing above.
DS160 Form Error	The official site refused one of the pages. The submission shows a screenshot of what it said.	Correct that answer in the form and start a new submission.
Errored	Something went wrong on our side. We are alerted automatically.	Start a new submission.

A new submission always starts a new application with a new Application ID; it does not pick up the unsigned one. If you would rather keep the Application ID you already have, finish that application on the official site instead. The official site keeps an unsigned application for 30 days.

Signature captcha not entered in time

Your application was filled in and is waiting at the DS-160 site, but the signature captcha was not entered in time so it was never signed. Start a new submission to finish signing it.

Photo needed before signing

Your application was filled in at the DS-160 site but left unsigned, because no photo was available to upload. Sign in at the DS-160 site with the application ID below, upload your photo, then sign and submit.

Application ID: AA00EXAMPL