DS-260 Guide: Completing the Immigrant Visa Application and Fixing Errors

Index

• Key Takeaways
• When to File the DS-260 and Who Fills It Out
• What to Have Ready Before You Start
• Where Applicants Get Stuck: Address History, Name Variations and Prior Visas
• Can You Correct the DS-260 After Submission?
• The Confirmation Page and What Comes Next
• Before You Click Submit
• Sources

The NVC fees show as paid, and a “Start Now” button is waiting under IV Application in CEAC. That button opens the DS-260, the State Department’s online immigrant visa application, which the Department estimates takes about 155 minutes to complete. This DS-260 guide explains how the form works, where applicants get stuck and how to fix a mistake after you submit.

For eligibility, see our F2A category guide. For the full sequence from I-130 approval to the visa interview, see our walkthrough of the consular processing steps. If your family member is already in the United States, first check whether adjustment of status or consular processing applies.

Key Takeaways

• The form opens after your fees post. Every immigrating family member needs a separate DS-260.
• The DS-260 branches as you answer. Age, sex, nationality and earlier answers decide which pages appear.
• Submission locks the form. Only NVC, KCC or the embassy can reopen it.
• Bring the confirmation page, not the application. The officer sees the full form online.

When to File the DS-260 and Who Fills It Out

The DS-260 opens at the National Visa Center (NVC) stage, after the fees are paid and the case status in the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) changes to “PAID”.

One Form per Applicant

Every immigrating family member, children included, completes a separate DS-260, so a spouse with two children will see three applications in CEAC. For a child under 14, a parent or guardian may complete the form. When a petitioner in the United States does the typing, the answers remain the applicant’s own statements, and the final page asks whether anyone helped prepare the application. Answer that accurately too.

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Most DS-260 problems start with trying to finish in one sitting from memory. A short preparation step keeps your answers consistent with the I-130 and your passport.

How the Form Is Organized

The State Department’s sample DS-260 moves through personal information, addresses and contact history, family, previous U.S. travel, work and education, the petitioner, security and background questions, Social Security and, finally, signature.

The form also branches. Which pages appear depends on your age, sex, nationality and earlier answers. In the sample, extra work-history and background pages show up only for certain groups, and the immigration-law questions differ for people who have been to the United States. Two members of the same family can see different screens.

Information to Gather First

• Passport details, any national ID number and any other nationality you hold
• Every address since age 16, with months and years
• Phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles from the past five years
• Names, birth dates and birthplaces of parents, spouses, former spouses and all children
• Employers, schools and training programs, past and present
• Dates of U.S. trips, prior visas and any visa refusals

Civil documents are a separate step, covered in our civil documents guide.

Saving Your Progress

CEAC logs you out after about 20 minutes of inactivity and discards anything entered since your last save, so save every page and plan on more than one session. Required fields can’t be left blank. Where a question offers “Does Not Apply,” use it rather than improvising.

Where Applicants Get Stuck: Address History, Name Variations and Prior Visas

These are the questions applicants most often hesitate over. In each case, the goal is consistency with your passport, your I-130 and the documents you’ll bring to the interview.

Names, Non-Latin Scripts and Other Names Used

Answers must be in English, using English characters only. If your name is written in a non-Latin script or with accents, copy the spelling from your passport’s machine-readable zone, the two lines of capital letters on the data page, which is already transliterated.

A separate question asks about other names you’ve used, and the sample lists maiden, religious and professional names and aliases. Include a birth surname changed by marriage and any name used on an earlier visa. The form also asks about any second nationality.

Address History With No Gaps

Applicants abroad list every address since age 16 by month and year, with no gaps. The fields follow a U.S. layout, so where addresses rely on districts or landmarks, describe the location on the street line, use the city and province fields for the locality and region, and spell it the same way everywhere.

There is no “unknown” option for a street address, and the State Department declined to add one. Rebuild old addresses from leases and bills, enter the best information you have, and be ready to explain any uncertainty at the interview.

Prior U.S. Travel, Visas and Refusals

Applicants who report past U.S. trips see extra immigration-law questions. An old tourist visa refusal usually doesn’t block an immigrant visa, but leaving one off the form can: section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes willful misrepresentation of a material fact a ground of visa ineligibility. Take dates from old passports and I-94 records, and answer the foreign-travel question for the full period shown.

Military Service

In the sample form, the military-service question appears for men aged 14 to 60 and for applicants 14 and older from a short list of countries. The State Department publishes no country-by-country guidance on exemptions, deferments or alternative service. Give an answer that matches your records and what you’ll say at the interview, and ask an attorney if a simple yes or no doesn’t fit. Military records, where required, are uploaded separately as described in our civil documents guide.

Social Media, Phone and Email History

The form asks for phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles used during the past five years, including ones you no longer use. It asks for handles, not passwords.

Where Your Green Card and Social Security Card Are Mailed

You’ll also give the U.S. address where the green card should be mailed, usually the petitioner’s. On the Social Security page, you can request a Social Security number. According to the Social Security Administration, the card then arrives at the DS-260 address within 7 to 10 business days of your arrival, with no office visit.

Want a second set of eyes before you submit?

Send us your draft answers and the I-130 you filed. We’ll flag inconsistencies while the form is still open.

Review My DS-260

Can You Correct the DS-260 After Submission?

Not on your own, but the form can be reopened. The route depends on where your case is when you spot the problem.

Why the Form Locks

Once you click “Sign and Submit Application,” the DS-260 locks. You can’t reopen it without help from NVC for immigrant visas, the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) for diversity visas, or the embassy or consulate where you will apply.

Who Can Reopen It, and When

Be specific in any request: name the applicant, the page, the current answer and the correct one.

Minor Typos vs. Material Errors

A misspelled street name is not the same as a wrong marriage date, an undisclosed refusal or a child left off the family page. Fix material errors before the interview. Changes after submission, such as a move, a birth or a marriage, also leave the record out of date and should be raised with NVC or the embassy. Some affect eligibility itself: an F2A child who marries no longer qualifies, as our overview of F2A eligibility rules explains, so get legal advice before reporting a change like that.

Correcting at the Interview

There is no free-text explanation box. The State Department said applicants who want to explain an answer can do so at the required in-person interview. Federal regulations make the officer responsible for a fully and properly completed DS-260, and statements you make there become part of your application. List your corrections in advance and raise them at the outset.

The Confirmation Page and What Comes Next

Submitting the DS-260 generates a confirmation page in CEAC, the only DS-260 printout you’ll need.

Print the Confirmation Page, Not the Application

Bring the printed confirmation page to the interview. You can reprint it from CEAC at any time after the application is complete. Leave the application itself at home, because the officer can review it online.

After the DS-260: Documents, NVC Review and the Interview

Submission doesn’t formally file your visa application; under State Department guidance, that happens at the interview. Three steps follow:

1. Upload your civil documents in CEAC, as explained in our civil documents guide.
2. Wait for NVC’s document review, covered in our guide to what happens after I-130 approval.
3. Attend the interview, using our immigrant visa interview guide to prepare.

Before You Click Submit

The most useful step in any DS-260 guide is a final check: your name matches your passport, your address history has no gaps since age 16, every U.S. visa and refusal is listed, and the green card mailing address is right. Read each page against your I-130 one last time before you submit. A submitted form can be corrected, but the fix takes time and can delay the point at which your case is ready for an interview.

Gozel Law Firm PC handles consular processing, including the DS-260, as part of our family-based immigration practice.

Sources

Verified as of October 8, 2026. Immigration rules change frequently. Confirm current details against the primary sources below before acting.

1. U.S. Department of State — DS-260 Immigrant Visa Electronic Application: Frequently Asked Questions (current page)
2. U.S. Department of State — Immigrant Visa Process, Step 6: Complete Online Visa Application (DS-260) (current page)
3. U.S. Department of State — DS-260 IV Application Sample (October 2019)
4. Federal Register — 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration (November 19, 2025)
5. Federal Register — 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Electronic Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration (August 28, 2018)
6. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations — 22 CFR § 42.63 (current text)
7. U.S. Department of State — National Visa Center Public Inquiry Form (current page)
8. Social Security Administration — What Is Enumeration at Entry and How Does It Work? (current page)
9. Boundless — Completing Your Address History on a Green Card Application (updated April 7, 2025)
10. Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) — Update and Processing Tips From the National Visa Center (current page)
11. American Immigration Lawyers Association — Department of State, Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance (August 31, 2026)