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. You do not enter any captchas: we enter the official site’s security codes for you. If the site refuses ours, we email you to type one. If your team would rather check each application on the official site and sign it yourselves, turn on Stop before signing: see Reviewing a DS-160 on CEAC Before Signing.

Before you start

• Who can do it: anyone in the workspace can start a submission.
• The form is complete: 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.
• The photo passed the checks: a submission also will not start if the application photo failed the DS-160 photo checks, until you tick the box to go ahead without it. If it will not start, see Fixing a Submission That Did Not Finish; for the photo, see Document Storage & Photo Automation.
• Your workspace settings: your workspace’s security answer and preparer details are read when the submission starts.

Start a submission

1. Open the form and click View Submissions.
2. Pick the Location: the U.S. embassy or consulate where the application will be filed.
3. To stop this one submission before it is signed, tick Stop before signing. See Reviewing a DS-160 on CEAC Before Signing.
4. Click New Submission.

What happens, step by step

1. The application is started. We open the official site, select the location and enter its security code. There is nothing for you to enter.
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. We enter the security code on the Sign and Submit page, which signs the application. If the submission is set to stop before signing, it ends here instead, as Ready to sign.
8. Done. The submission shows Completed, with the confirmation number and the confirmation page. The person who started it gets a Signed and submitted email with the confirmation number.

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, or tick it when you start a single submission. Steps 1 to 6 happen as usual, and the submission stops on the Sign and Submit page as Ready to sign, with a PDF of every page. Your team then reviews and signs the application on ceac.state.gov. See Reviewing a DS-160 on CEAC Before Signing.

No captchas to enter

The official site asks for a security code (captcha) twice: when the application is started, and on the Sign and Submit page. We enter both, so nobody on your team has to. Entering the second one signs the application, so if someone should check it first, use Stop before signing: see Reviewing a DS-160 on CEAC Before Signing.

We enter a code only when we are sure of it, and when we are not, we ask the site for a new image, which uses none of the three tries the site allows.

If we need you

If the site refuses our answer twice or we cannot read a code, we email you to type it, with the tries that are left:

• Action needed to continue — the first code.
• 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. Our own tries count towards the three.
• 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 a submission stops before signing, only the first code is asked for.

Expected result

The submission shows Completed, and the person who started it gets a Signed and submitted email with the confirmation number. 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.

If a submission does not finish

When a submission ends early, the person who started it gets an email with a link to it: Not submitted, saying what happened and what to do, or Ready to review and sign when the submission stops before signing. Each status, what it means and how to finish the application or start again are in Fixing a Submission That Did Not Finish.

Troubleshooting