Downloading a Form as a PDF

Every form can be downloaded as a PDF of its answers, at any stage: half filled in, ready to review, or already filed. It is set like a short paper, with the answers numbered in the order the form asks them, so it can be read through on paper, marked up and talked over with someone else.

Before you start

Who can do it: anyone in a workspace, business or personal. Clients filling in a form through an intake link don’t see the button.
See an example first: every sample DS-160 has a PDF made the same way.

Download it

Open the form.
Click Download PDF in the row of buttons at the top of its overview. In a personal workspace the button reads Download PDF for your interview.

The PDF is made when you click, from the answers as they stand at that moment, and it downloads straight away.

It is printed in the language the site is showing. To get it in another language, switch the site’s language and download it again. Questions, headings and answers picked from a list are translated; what the applicant typed stays as it was typed.

Example: how this looks on the platform

What is in it

A title block. The form’s name, your firm or agency as the author, your contact details beneath it, and the date it was made. A short paragraph under it says what the document is.
One numbered section per page of the form, with its questions numbered in turn (5.2 is the second question of section 5).
Only the questions the answers open. A follow-up question appears indented under the answer that opened it. A question the applicant never saw does not print, even if a value is stored under it from an earlier answer.
Repeated entries (previous trips, other names, employers) as a small table when each has a few short answers, or as numbered entries when they have more.
Answers in italics were left unanswered, or marked as not applying, with the label of the box that was ticked (“Does Not Apply”, “Do Not Know”).
“In English: …” under an answer written in another language, showing the English version that will be filed.
Page numbers in every footer.

If your workspace answers the preparer section for every form (see preparer defaults), that section is left out, as it is on the form’s overview.

Under your name

In a business workspace the PDF carries your branding, not DS160.io’s:

The agency name from Workspace Settings → Branding is the document’s author and starts each footer, and the file is named after it and the form.
The logo sits above the title.
The contact email and contact phone appear under your name and at the end of each footer. With neither set, the footer reads Confidential.

In a personal workspace the PDF is in DS160.io’s name.

What it is not

It is not the confirmation page. The page with the barcode that you need to book the interview comes from the consular site when the form is filed. A filed form keeps it, with a PDF of every page the consular site showed back, on its submission page (see after a successful submission).
It is not what was filed. It shows the answers in DS160.io now. After a filing, the record of what the consular site accepted is that submission PDF.
It is not kept. The PDF is made for each download and not stored. Anyone in the workspace can download a form’s PDF, so treat the file as you would the client’s passport.

Expected result

The PDF downloads straight away, in the language the site is showing, with the form’s answers as they stand at that moment. In a business workspace it is named after your agency and the form.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
“The PDF could not be made. Try again.”	Click Download PDF again.
The PDF is in the wrong language	Switch the site’s language and download it again. What the applicant typed stays as it was typed.
The footer reads Confidential	Neither a contact email nor a contact phone is set. Add them under Workspace Settings → Branding.
A question is missing from the PDF	Only the questions the answers open are printed. With preparer defaults on, the preparer section is left out too.
You need the confirmation page or what was filed	Open the form’s submission page: it keeps the confirmation page and a PDF of every page the consular site showed back.