The United States Department of State requires that the new visa application Form DS-160 be implemented by consular posts worldwide by April 30, 2010. As the deadline approaches more posts have come on board, which has lead to severe connectivity issues at the Consular Electronic Application Center ("CEAC", located at https://ceac.state.gov/GENNIV/default.aspx) where the Form DS-160 is to be completed and e-filed. In view of this situation, several individual posts have confirmed that they will accept previous visa application form DS-156 (and DS-157 and DS-158 where required) until the problems associated with the Form DS-160 have been resolved. As this is a very recent development, posts may need to be contacted individually to confirm.
How This Affects You
It is unclear at this time how soon the functionality of the CEAC website will be restored to make DS-160 completion possible.
We recommend at this time that all visa applicants with upcoming visa appointments prepare Form DS-156 (and DS-157 and DS-158 where required) for the time being, and attempt to complete DS-160 at least 48 hours before the actual visa appointment in the event that the problems associated with the form is resolved in the meantime. If it is not possible to complete the DS-160 before the interview, the completed Form DS-156 (and DS-157 and DS-158 where required) should be brought to the visa interview, and the applicant should explain to the interviewing officer that he/she was unable to complete Form DS-160 due to connectivity issues at the CEAC website.
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