Q: My brother lives in Canada and recently applied in Toronto for a non-immigrant visa to the United States. According to him, the application had to be completed and submitted online, which I have never heard of before. My visa is set to expire soon, and I would like to renew it. Will I be able to submit my application online, or does the US Embassy in Jamaica still use paper applications?

A: At this time, applicants in Jamaica do not have the option to submit their applications online, but that will change in March of this year. Under the current system, all applicants must fill out form DS-156 (Non-Immigrant Visa Application) and form DS-157 (Supplemental Non-Immigrant Visa Application) and submit printed copies of the forms at the time of their interview. On Thursday, March 4, we will make the new paperless DS-160 application form available for voluntary use and on Wednesday, March 24, the online form will become mandatory.

The new online form DS-160

The new DS-160 form, Non-immigrant Visa Electronic Application, is a fully integrated online application form that will be used to collect the necessary application information from persons seeking a non-immigrant visa. The DS-160 will be submitted electronically to the Department of State via the Internet, unlike the DS-156 and 157 forms, which were printed and submitted by hand. Consular officers will use the information entered on the DS-160 to process the visa application and, combined with the personal interview, will determine an applicant’s eligibility for a non-immigrant visa.

Currently, 32 embassies and consulates around the world use the online DS-160. The rest have been mandated by the US Department of State to transition to this new form by Friday, April 30, 2010. Applicants in Jamaica will be required to use the new online form as of March 24, 2010.

Completing the new DS-160

All visa applicants will be required to complete the online application form found at ceac.state.gov/genniv/. All fields not marked optional must be filled out. The online application will not allow submission of the DS-160 if any mandatory fields are left blank. If the online application has not been completed fully and accurately, the applicant will be requested to return for a second interview having made a newly completed online application.

A photograph will still be necessary to present at the interview. The requirements for the photograph have not changed, and can be found on the State Department website at travel.state.gov/pdf/USPassportDigitalImageRequirements.pdf.

Once completed, the information in the DS-160 will be electronically transmitted to the US Department of State. The applicant will receive a confirmation page, which will include some biographical information, and a bar-code confirmation number will be automatically generated. This confirmation page must be brought to the interview. Applicants will no longer be required to bring their entire printed application form to the interview.

After the applicant has printed the confirmation page, he or she will still need to pay the visa application fee at any NCB branch office and schedule an appointment through the embassy’s call centre or appointment website. It is important to note that the processes for making an appointment and paying the visa application fee will not change. Similarly, the requirement that an applicant provide proof at his or her interview of all economic and social ties outside of the United States is also unchanged.

Benefits of the new DS-160

The US State Department developed the new DS-160 to improve visa processing and the new form offers several benefits to applicants, such as:

* Convenience: The DS-160 contains all the forms necessary for many types of visas in one document, so applicants will not have to worry about which application(s) they need to fill out in order to apply. The application will also only require answers to questions that are necessary for a particular purpose of travel.

* Privacy: Any information provided by the applicant is transmitted directly to the US Department of State. Unlike the current application, no personal information is printed on paper that could be viewed by others without the applicant’s authorisation.

* Efficiency: Because the DS-160 is submitted online, the applicant’s information will be processed prior to the visa interview. If the application is filled out correctly, the entire process should be faster for applicants and consular officers alike. Although the applicant’s information is transmitted to the consulate before the interview, the consulate will not process anyone’s application until the face-to-face interview with a consular officer. All applicants will still be interviewed to determine their qualifications for a visa.

In summary, until March 24 the consular section of US Embassy Kingston is still processing non-immigrant visa applications using the standard, printed application form available on its website and there is no change to the process of applying for a non-immigrant visa. Once the transition to the new online form occurs on March 24, the main change will be in the amount of paperwork involved — applicants will no longer have to carry paper applications to their interviews. The embassy’s consular section will continue to update the public on the transition to the new DS-160 online application form. The best source of information for visa application requirements is the consular website at www.kingston.usembassy.gov.

The American Embassy staff in Kingston will answer any questions you may have regarding US consular law, regulations and/or practice. In order to respect the privacy of applicants, the embassy will not answer questions on specific personal applications.

Send your questions to: editorial@jamaicaobserver.com and we will send them to the embassy.