DOS Rolls Out DS-260 Online Immigrant Visa Application to Most Applicants

The Department of State (“DOS”) has reported that they are transitioning to an online immigrant visa application as of September 3, 2013.    Immigrant visa applicants who are processing their immigrant visas (green cards) through the National Visa Center (NVC)/U.S. Consulate will now need to complete the DS-260 form online (Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration).   Similarly, the Form DS-261 (Choice of Address and Agent) form will be online as well.

The online DS-260 form was, until now, used only for immigrant visa applicants for a few selected consulates.   With the upcoming transition, after September 3, 2013, DOS will require most immigrant visa applicants to complete the DS-260 form online (as opposed to the paper DS-230 form).   Only Diversity Visa and Cuban Family Reunification Parole applicants will continue to use the paper forms (DS-230).  It is important to note that nonimmigrant visa applicants (B-1, H-1B, L-1, etc.) should still continue to use the DS-160 electronic application.

NVC Pending Cases

For those immigrant visa applicants who have a case pending with NVC already, NVC may instruct some applicants who previously submitted Form DS-230 on paper to submit Form DS-260 online.

Conclusion
We welcome DOS’s rollout of the DS-260 system to all applicants.   Even though the DS-260 application form is somewhat more complex to complete than the DS-230 paper form, it should eliminate the amount of paperwork, data entry mistakes and delays which are often associated with processing paper DS-230 forms.     Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can help you.  Also, please visit us again or subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to ensure that you obtain this and related immigration-related news and announcements.
By | Last Updated: August 29th, 2013| Categories: Articles, News, Visa Processing|

About the Author: Dimo Michailov

Dimo Michailov
Dimo has over 15 years of experience in US immigration including employment-based immigration benefits, corporate compliance and family based immigration. He represents corporate and individual clients in a wide range of cross-border immigration matters including mobility of key foreign executives and managers, specialized knowledge workers, and foreign nationals with extraordinary ability.

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The Capitol Immigration Law Group has been serving the business community for over 15 years and is one of the most widely respected immigration law firms focused solely on U.S. employment-based immigration.   Disclaimer:  we make all efforts to provide timely and accurate information; however, the information in this article may become outdated or may not be applicable to a specific set of facts.  It is not to be construed as legal advice.