Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application DS-160 Set to Become Mandatory on April 30

International Students and Scholars, if you will be applying for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa in the coming weeks, you will be filling out Form DS-160, the online nonimmigrant visa application. This new electronic form is scheduled to become mandatory at all U.S. consulates by April 30, and applicants could see technical slowdowns and other problems as more people try to access the form around the deadline.

Form DS-160 is completely online and consolidates several nonimmigrant visa application forms into a single electronic document. It replaces Form DS-156 and most of the paper supplements to that form, including Form DS-157, the supplemental nonimmigrant visa application used by male applicants between the ages of 16 and 45 among others, and Form DS-158, the contact and work history form used by applicants for student or exchange visitor visas.

As you move through the DS-160 electronic form, you will be asked to input your application information. Depending on your answers to certain questions, you may be asked follow-up questions. For example, if you answer "yes" to the question whether you have previously visited the United States, follow-up questions about your previous trips will appear on the screen. If you answer "no" to this question, no follow-ups will appear.

Form DS-160 is available at https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/ and please contact OISS at oissmail@wayne.edu should you have any questions.