DS-160 - problem with website?

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

Is anyone else having massive issues filling in their DS160 online? I’ve spent the last THREE AND A HALF HOURS filling in the first 5 sections...only 6 more to go! I never knew I had this much patience...

 

I’ve finally had to give up, as it won’t let me add the details of more than one visit to the US. I’ve tried using my work laptop, personal laptop, internet explorer, Firefox, iPad - all are doing the same!

 

Is anyone else experiencing issues?

 

Thanks

 

Zoë

[Mezyan 153]

Yes, both my fiance and i have had issues with it ending the session. It's stupid.

 

I joked with my fiance that they were trying to see how bad he wanted to come to USA.

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

9 minutes ago, Mezyan said:

Yes, both my fiance and i have had issues with it ending the session. It's stupid.

 

I joked with my fiance that they were trying to see how bad he wanted to come to USA.

I’ve given up - going to try again tomorrow. I used the site when I applied for my B1 visa and there’s no way it was this bad then - I’d have remembered!! 😫😫

[Mezyan 153]

1 minute ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

I’ve given up - going to try again tomorrow. I used the site when I applied for my B1 visa and there’s no way it was this bad then - I’d have remembered!! 😫😫

It has been like this since they did the last update a couple weeks ago.

[Greenbaum 12,259]

1 hour ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

Is anyone else having massive issues filling in their DS160 online? I’ve spent the last THREE AND A HALF HOURS filling in the first 5 sections...only 6 more to go! I never knew I had this much patience...

 

I’ve finally had to give up, as it won’t let me add the details of more than one visit to the US. I’ve tried using my work laptop, personal laptop, internet explorer, Firefox, iPad - all are doing the same!

 

Is anyone else experiencing issues?

 

Thanks

 

Zoë

Have you cleared your cache and cookies. That was the previous fix for this problem. 

 

See if this helps: 

 

https://ceac.state.gov/GENNIV/Help/Content/Recovering an Application after Session Time Out.htm

 

and/or what's below:

• Use your browser's private or incognito mode. 
• Disable browser plugins. 
• Use only 1 tab when filling out the form.  Do NOT have the form open on multiple tabs. 
• Press "SAVE" every time you finish a page of the form. 
• If the session times out again: 
• Clear browser cookies and cache. 
• Close the browser (not just the tab), wait a minute, re-open browser. 
• Retrieve application and continue filling out the form. 
 

 

Edited June 11, 2019 by Greenbaum

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

47 minutes ago, Greenbaum said:

Have you cleared your cache and cookies. That was the previous fix for this problem. 

 

See if this helps: 

 

https://ceac.state.gov/GENNIV/Help/Content/Recovering an Application after Session Time Out.htm

 

and/or what's below:

• Use your browser's private or incognito mode. 
• Disable browser plugins. 
• Use only 1 tab when filling out the form.  Do NOT have the form open on multiple tabs. 
• Press "SAVE" every time you finish a page of the form. 
• If the session times out again: 
• Clear browser cookies and cache. 
• Close the browser (not just the tab), wait a minute, re-open browser. 
• Retrieve application and continue filling out the form. 
 

 

I don’t think it’s actually timing out, though my technical knowledge is close to zero...it does advance to the next box or screen, but takes minutes to do so...and with the adding extra trips part, I click on the link to add another and literally nothing happens - it’s like the page doesn’t recognise I’m clicking on it. 

 

I’m going to try again tomorrow at work, when I’m plugged into a cable rather than on WiFi - and will clear the cookies and close everything first!

 

Thanks for the tips 🙏

[Zach2015 211]

We had massive problems when my fiancé was doing her DS-160. It took many hours to get it completed due to all the problems.

[jeanieCZ 228]

The webform is TERRIBLE. Timed out, failed to save, couldn't connect, logged me out unexpectedly.....so just like you I ended up filling in everything multiple times.

 

I noticed one thing though: it seems to me that if I didn't open any other internet windows/tabs, the form would work properly. Opening another browser tab to look up information online (e.g. an address of my previous employer or school), even if it took less than a minute, usually resulted in the DS-160 giving me an error. In the end I knew almost all the information by heart :p . 

My advice would be: make sure you have your education and employment info at hand, so you don't need to look things up as you are filling in the form. I saved that kind of information in a text file and then copied&pasted it into the DS-160, that worked. 

Edited July 16, 2019 by jeaniecz

[moonbunnys 36]

My fiance is having major issues with the site as well. He can only do a little bit at a time because he keeps getting errors and it's a crapshoot whether or not it's saving his information. He's tried on Firefox and Chrome. He is just doing a tiny bit at a time and saving after every little edit. We thought it was perhaps a temporary problem but it seems like many others are having it as well