Don't type personal details, such as a client's name.

Custom Domains

Serve client intake on your agency's own subdomain instead of ds160.io: add the domain, create a CNAME record, verify DNS and SSL, and share branded links.

Custom domains let your clients fill in their DS-160 intake on an address like intake.your-agency.com instead of ds160.io/client-intake/.... Combined with whitelabel branding, the experience looks like your own product. You add the domain, point a DNS record at us, and verify it; from then on, new client links use your address.

Before you start

  • Who can do it: the Owner of a Business workspace. The Custom Domain card is not shown to anyone else.
  • DNS access: you need access to the DNS settings of the domain you want to use.
  • A subdomain to use, such as intake.your-agency.com.

Add the domain in your workspace

  1. Open Workspace Settings → Branding and find Custom Domain.
  2. Type the subdomain you want to use under Domain — for example intake.your-agency.com.
  3. Click Add Domain.
Example: how this looks on the platform

Add the DNS record

  1. The card now shows your domain as Pending Verification, with the record to add under DNS Configuration Required.
  2. In your DNS provider’s dashboard, add a CNAME record for your subdomain (for example intake) that points at the target shown there.
  3. Wait for it to take effect. Most providers apply it within a few minutes; some take up to an hour.
Example: how this looks on the platform

Verify DNS and SSL

  1. Once the record has propagated, click Verify DNS. If it has not taken effect yet, the card says what it found instead — no CNAME record, or one pointing somewhere else — and you can try again later.
  2. When DNS passes, the domain is marked Verified and we set up the SSL certificate for it. Until that is ready the card shows SSL Pending; click Verify SSL to check again.
  3. When the card shows Verified and SSL Active, the domain is live.
Example: how this looks on the platform

Expected result

The Custom Domain card shows Verified and SSL Active. Clients who open a new link from this workspace see your address, such as intake.your-agency.com, instead of ds160.io.

Once the domain shows Verified and SSL Active, every new client link from this workspace uses it — the links you copy from a form’s Client card or Client links page, and the links you email when you invite a client. Links created before then keep the ds160.io address they were made with, and keep working.

Removing a custom domain

Click Remove Domain on the same card and confirm. Links you create afterwards use the ds160.io address again. Links you already sent on your domain depend on your DNS record, so if you also delete the CNAME record they stop working — send those clients a new link.

Troubleshooting

ProblemWhat to do
There is no Custom Domain cardOnly the workspace’s Owner sees it, and only in a Business workspace.
Failed to add custom domainType the domain name only, such as intake.your-agency.com, without https:// or a path, then click Add Domain again.
DNS verification failed: No CNAME record foundThe record has not taken effect yet, or it was added under another name. Check it is a CNAME record for your subdomain, wait, and click Verify DNS again.
DNS verification failed: CNAME points to …The record points somewhere else. Change its target to the one shown under DNS Configuration Required, then verify again.
The card stays on SSL PendingThe certificate is set up after DNS verification and may take a few minutes. Click Verify SSL to check again.
A client’s link still shows ds160.ioIt was created before the domain showed Verified and SSL Active. It keeps working; a new link uses your domain.
Links on your domain stopped workingLinks you sent on your domain depend on its CNAME record. If you removed the domain and deleted the record, send those clients a new link.