Preparer of Application Defaults

The DS-160 asks, on its final page, whether anyone assisted the applicant in filling out the application — and if so, who. For an agency the answer is the same on every form: you did. Preparer defaults let you write those details once, on the workspace, rather than re-entering them per client.

Before you start

• Who can change it: this is for Owners and Admins of a Business workspace.
• When it applies: your details are read each time a submission starts, so they need no copying onto each form.

Set your details

1. Open Workspace Settings → E-Filing and find Preparer of Application Defaults.
2. Tick Prefill new forms with these details.
3. Fill in whichever fields apply:
   • Preparer’s surnames and given names — the person who prepared the application.
   • Organization name — your agency.
   • Address — street, city, state/province, postal code, and country.
   • Relationship to applicant — free text, for example IMMIGRATION CONSULTANT.
4. Click Save.

Every field is optional. Anything you leave blank is submitted to the DS-160 as Does Not Apply, which is what the form itself expects for a blank preparer name, organization, state, or postal code.

Field lengths match the limits the DS-160 enforces, so a value saved here can never be cut short when it is entered.

What changes once it is on

While prefill is on, your settings are the preparer section. Three things follow from that.

The section disappears. It is no longer listed in the form overview or in your client’s intake checklist, it does not count towards a form’s completion percentage, and it is not part of the “section X of Y” count when moving between sections. Neither you nor your client is asked a question that is already answered.

Your answers are read live. They are not copied onto each form when it is created. Editing them here changes what every future submission carries, including forms that already exist. There is nothing per-form to fall out of step.

Nothing is left to fill in. When a form is submitted, the agent enters your preparer details on the DS-160’s final page automatically.

Turning it off

1. Untick Prefill new forms with these details.
2. Click Save.

Your details stay saved, so you can switch it back on later without retyping them.

Once off, the preparer section reappears everywhere it was hidden, and applicants answer the question themselves. Forms submitted while prefill was on are unaffected — they were already submitted with your details.

A note on signing

Filling in the preparer section is not the same as signing. The DS-160 is signed when the security code on its final page is entered, which we do for you unless the submission stops before signing: see Reviewing a DS-160 on CEAC Before Signing.

Expected result

Once saved, the preparer section is gone from the form overview and from your clients’ intake checklists, and every submission from then on carries your details on the DS-160’s final page.

Troubleshooting