How Should I Enter My Date of Birth on the DS-160?

Enter your date of birth exactly as it appears in your passport

Enter your date of birth exactly as shown in your passport. For the DS-160, use the date order shown by the form and its instructions: day, month, year.

Your passport is the main document to check. Don’t rely on memory, an old form, or a date format you usually use at home. Open the passport bio page and copy the day, month, and year carefully.

For example, if your passport shows that you were born on 7 April 1995, enter:

• Day: 07
• Month: April
• Year: 1995

Use the fields and selections provided on the DS-160 form online. If the form displays the month as a name or gives you a list to choose from, follow that format. The key point is that the date must match your passport, while the order you enter it should follow the DS-160 instructions.

This matters because your date of birth is one of your main biographical details. A small mistake can create a mismatch between your DS-160 and your passport.

Use the DS-160 date order: day, month, year

The date order for the DS-160 is day, month, year. That order is easy to mix up if you usually write dates as month, day, year.

Consider a date such as 03/08/1998. Depending on the format someone uses, that could mean:

• 3 August 1998, or
• March 8, 1998

That’s why you shouldn’t guess from a number-only date. Check the passport and then enter the information in the order requested by the DS-160.

A simple way to handle the field is:

1. Find the date of birth on your passport.
2. Separate it into the day, month, and year.
3. Put each part into the matching DS-160 field.
4. Read the completed date back in that same order.
5. Compare it with the passport one more time.

If the form or its current instructions show a different display style on your screen, follow what the form tells you. The supplied DS-160 guidance identifies the order as day, month, year, but the form’s own fields should always guide how you enter each part.

Don’t change the date to fit the way it appears on another document. Use the passport as your reference and the DS-160 fields as your guide.

Check the date against your passport before continuing

Have your passport open before you begin the personal information section. This turns the process into a quick matching exercise instead of a memory test.

Check all three parts of the date:

• Day: Make sure you haven’t switched it with the month.
• Month: Confirm the correct month, especially when the passport uses numbers.
• Year: Watch for typing errors, such as leaving out a digit or entering the wrong year.

Then check the full date again after you save or move to the next section. A quick second review can catch a single wrong number that may be hard to notice later.

You should also compare the spelling and order of your name with the passport while you’re there. The date of birth is only one of the key biographical details on the DS-160. A mismatch in your name, passport information, or other personal details can cause the same kind of problem.

If you’re completing applications for more than one person, check each person’s passport separately. Don’t copy the date from one application into another without checking the correct passport.

Do not confuse date of birth with place of birth

The DS-160 asks for both date of birth and place of birth, but they are different pieces of information.

• Date of birth means the day, month, and year you were born.
• Place of birth means the location where you were born.

For example, your date of birth might be 7 April 1995, while your place of birth might be a particular city and country. The two answers belong in separate fields.

When entering your place of birth, use the place where you were actually born. The available DS-160 guidance also points to using the name currently used for that place. That can matter if a city or region has changed names.

Don’t enter your passport’s issuing location in the place-of-birth field. Those are separate details too:

• Place of birth: Where you were born
• Passport issuing information: Details connected to the passport
• Date of birth: When you were born

If you’re unsure about a place name, check the DS-160 instructions for that field instead of making up an answer or treating the field like a passport-application question. Guidance for a passport application does not automatically answer a DS-160 question.

Common DS-160 mistakes to check before submitting

The most serious mistakes are often small biographical mismatches. Before you submit, slow down and check the details that identify you.

Date and personal information errors

Look for:

• The day and month entered in the wrong order
• A wrong birth year
• A typing error in the name
• A different name order from the passport
• Incorrect marital status
• A date copied from memory instead of the passport

The DS-160 is an online nonimmigrant visa application for temporary travel to the United States. It is also used for K fiancé(e) visas. Because it collects personal information, passport details, and other application answers, one incorrect field can affect the accuracy of the whole application.

Passport and application errors

Compare the application with the passport for:

• Passport number
• Passport information
• Name spelling
• Date of birth
• Other biographical details shown in the application

Make sure you’re working on the correct applicant’s form. This is especially important if you’re helping family members complete several DS-160 applications.

Answers that don’t match your documents

Don’t enter an answer simply because it seems familiar or because it appeared on an older application. Use the current passport and read the current DS-160 instructions for the field.

The available guidance does not answer every personal-information question in the same way for every situation. For example, it does not establish whether a spouse’s full name should include a maiden name. For questions like that, follow the instructions connected to that field rather than guessing.

What happens if the date of birth is wrong

If you notice the mistake before submitting the DS-160, correct it in the application before moving on. Review the entire personal information section again after making the change.

If you find the error after submitting, the available DS-160 information indicates that key biographical details—such as your name or date of birth—are generally not editable. A mistake may require you to complete a new DS-160 and may also require another application step.

The exact next step can depend on where you are in the visa process and what has already been submitted. Because of that, don’t assume that editing a saved application or changing a confirmation page will fix a submitted date of birth.

Instead:

1. Identify exactly what is wrong.
2. Check whether the error is in the DS-160, the confirmation information, or another document.
3. Review the current DS-160 instructions for your situation.
4. Follow the applicable instructions for correcting a submitted application.

A wrong date of birth should not be treated like a minor spelling preference. It is a core identity detail, so fix it using the process that applies to your application rather than trying to explain it away later.

Review the DS-160 confirmation page and application details

After you submit the form, keep the DS-160 confirmation page. Review the application details you can access and compare them with your passport.

Pay special attention to:

• Your full name
• Your date of birth
• Your place of birth
• Your passport information
• The applicant information connected with the form

The confirmation page is part of the record connected with your online application. Don’t assume that reaching the confirmation page means every answer is correct. Use it as a final checkpoint, then compare the details with the passport again.

A quick passport-matching checklist

Before submitting the DS-160, confirm that:

• [ ] Your date of birth matches the passport.
• [ ] You entered the date in day-month-year order.
• [ ] The day, month, and year are each in the correct field.
• [ ] Your place of birth is the place where you were born.
• [ ] Your name matches the passport.
• [ ] Your passport details are accurate.
• [ ] You reviewed the application details before submission.
• [ ] You checked the DS-160 confirmation page for errors.

Before submitting, compare every biographical detail with your passport and review the DS-160 confirmation page for errors.