Updating DS-160 after Submission

All nonimmigrant visa applicants, with the exception of those applying for K visa, must use online DS-160 Nonimmigrant Visa Application Form.  A successful submission of the DS-160 creates confirmation page with a unique barcode that the visa applicant must take with her/him to the visa interview. 

Issues arise where the visa applicant, after submitting her/his visa application, realizes that s/he needs to change information on the submitted application.  A common example of this would be where the visa applicant at the time of booking her/his visa appointment was single, subsequently marries, and now wants to change her/his marital status to married. 

While it is not possible to change information on a ‘submitted’ DS-160, however, there are two quick options for creating a new DS-160 without having to complete the whole application again. 

If the original application was submitted within 30 days, the first option allows the visa applicant to log into the CEAC system and select the option “Retrieve an Application” using the application ID number.  Next, the system will ask whether the visa applicant want to create a new application or want to go to the confirmation page.  In order to create a new DS-160, the visa applicant must select “Create a New Application”, and the entire application will reappear, except for the travel plans to the United States.  Thereafter, visa applicant can edit and update her/his information and resubmit the application again thereby generating a confirmation page with a NEW barcode.

In the alternate, if the visa applicant has previously saved the application locally onto her/his computer as a DAT file then s/he can access and amend the information at any time from an already submitted application.  Once the corrections/changes have been made to the new application, the visa applicant must save and submit the new application thereby generating a new confirmation page with a NEW barcode. 

If the original DS-160 was used to book a visa appointment or pay the fee, a visa applicant using either of the two alternates MUST at the time of the interview present the confirmation pages from the new AND original DS-160.