If you are applying for a nonimmigrant US Visa, you need to fill out an online nonimmigrant visa application(DS-160) online. As part of that process, you will need to select a location, where you plan to apply for the visa interview at a US Embassy or a US Consulate.
As part of the overall US Visa Application process, you will need to book an appointment at a US Consulate or Embassy. Sometimes, you may or may not find a visa interview appointment at the same location that you selected on DS-160. Now, the question is, should you update DS-160 with the new location? or is it not needed? We will discuss in detail all the common situations and US Dept of State and USTravelDocs guidance on updating the location on DS-160.
Article Contents hideAs a background, let’s first look at where you even select the US visa interview location, when you are filling out the DS-160 form.
When you visit the CEAC Website to create an online nonimmigrant visa application, you will see the option on the landing page itself that says “Select a location where you will be applying for this visa“. It will be on the left-hand side of the page just above the place you enter the captcha code. The option is a dropdown box with Country Name and Consulate/Embassy City name next to it.
See the below screenshot on how it looks online
After the selection of the location on the initial landing page, you will not see the option to change the interview location, until you complete almost all parts of the DS-160 application and go to the final stages of submission of DS-160.
You will get the option to change the interview location after you review all the information, before the “Sign and Submit Option”. You would see the interview location you selected in the past listed as “Current Location”. If you want to change the current location, you need to click on the “Edit Location Information” link above the text that says “Location where you will be submitting your application”. See below screenshot on how it exactly looks
After you click on ‘Edit Location Information’, you will be navigagted to a page that says “Designate Location” and the location field will become editable. It will turn into a drop down with the same list of locations that you seen on the landing page.
You can select the relevant city that you plan to submit your application and give visa interview at this step and click on ‘Save’ to change the location. See below screenshots on how it looks.
You need to click on ‘Save’ button after you select the location from the dropdown.Below is the screenshot of the second step where you select the actual location by selecting the dropdown.
After you electronically sign and submit your DS-160 application online, you will not get an option to change the interview location in DS 160 application. When you retrieve the DS-160 by entering the Application ID and your personal information, you only get the option to view and print confirmation. It looks like in below screenshot.
As you can see below, you only have two options ‘Print Confirmation’ and ‘Email Confirmation’. That’s all you can do. You cannot really change the location in DS 160 after submission of the same. But, what if you want to attend interview a different location, what should you do now? Let’s look at that now.
It can happen that, when you submitted DS 160 you wanted to attend interview at a particular location, but during appointment booking you could not find a visa interview slot at that location. So, you end up booking an appointment at a different location than that is listed on DS 160 application form.
As per US Department of State, if you are in a situation like above, you are fine and do not have to do anything such as ‘updating the location on DS 160 form’. As per them, the US consulate or Embassy, where you plan to attend the interview, should be able to retrieve and get your information based on the bar code on the confirmation letter.
Example: Let’s say you selected “India, Chennai” when you initially filled up DS-160 and submitted it. But, when booking appointment, you selected interview at “India, Hyderabad”. As per US Dept. of State, you are fine and do not have to do anything as the US Consulate in Hyderabad can retrieve your DS 160 using the bar code on your DS-160.
If you look at the confirmation letter, it will have a bar code on the top and the bottom, that is what they are talking about. See below screenshot of DS-160 Confirmation letter showing ‘Bar code’, which is nothing but the ‘Application ID’
Below is the screenshot of the official reference from US Department of State Website, that confirms the above guidance. Look for the question on that page that says “What happens to my DS-160 if I select a U.S. Embassy or Consulate where I will be applying for my visa, but end up making an interview appointment instead at another U.S. Embassy or Consulate?”
If you are attending US Visa interview in India, you also have clarification and official guidance from USTravelDocs, which is your website for booking appointment. As per USTravelDocs India website, you do not have to change the interview location on DS 160, if you have booked interview at a different location than the one you originally selected on DS 160 when you submitted the form.
The only restriction is that the location you selected initially on DS 160 must be located within India. Let’s look at an example
Example on what works: Let’s say you selected location as “Chennai, India” when you filled out DS-160 and submitted it. Now, you book interview appointment at “Kolkata, India” or “Mumbai, India”, or any other city, then you are fine. You do not have to do anything. The other consulates/embassy would be able to retrieve and get your DS160 form.
Example on What does NOT work: Let’s say you selected location as “Berlin, Germany” or other city outside of India, when you filled out DS-160 and submitted it. Now, you book interview appointment at “Kolkata, India” or “Mumbai, India”, or any other city in India, then it will not work. Your DS-160 that you submitted with city selected as outside of India will not work, you will need to create a new DS-160 application form and submit it with Consulates locations in India.
Below is the screenshot of the guidance from the USTravelDocs India website. You need to scroll down to the bottom and look for section that says “Guidelines for completing the Form DS-160″
In addition to the above official guidance on the US Dept of State website and USTravelDocs website, the US Embassy in India clarified the same question on DS 160 location in their responses during one of the Visa Friday’s Q &A Sessions as well. As per them as well, you do not have to do anything, as long as the initial selected location on DS 160 is within India, irrespective of where you have your visa interview appointment.
Example : Let’s say you selected ‘New Delhi’ as your interview location on DS 160, when you submitted the application online, but later got biometrics appointment at Delhi and Visa interview appointment at Mumbai. Then, you do not have to do anything such as changing the location in DS160 form. You are fine, just need to travel between cities. See below screenshot from US Embassy India answered on Visa Fridays Facebook Q &A
As per US Embassy in Vietnam, they say that if your interview location changes from the one that you filled out on the DS-160 form, then you do not have to fill out a new form DS-160. The US Consulate or Embassy can access your DS-160 form using the bar code that is on the confirmation letter generated after filling out the DS-160 form.
The only thing they suggest is, it can take extra time and there can be significant delays, you can appear for the interview with a DS-160 that is submitted with a different location. See the below screenshot on the actual guidance and check their Website FAQs.
Note: One important thing to note from the below screenshot is, on Vietnam Embassy & Consulate websites, they say that there can be delays. But, it may or may not be applicable to other locations. So, always check with the country that you are interviewing in to get more clarity. For instance, in India, they do not say that there will be any delays, as long as the location is within India.
Hope, it is clear now, that you do not have to worry about changing the DS 160 interview location if you are attending the visa interview in the same country as you selected in DS 160. If not, you need to create a new DS 160 form.
What was your experience with location changes in DS 160 ? Add your thoughts in comments section below.
