In January 2024, the U.S. mission in Bangladesh had notified that, in order to improve and speed up the customer experience on the date of the visa interview, they require applicants to complete and submit their visa application Form DS-160 and include the DS-160 confirmation number in the applicant’s profile, no earlier than one year and no later than one week before the interview date.

This notification also warns that applicants who provide DS-160 confirmation numbers for applications that have been completed less than one week prior to the interview date may be turned away at the time of their interview. Applicants will have to schedule another appointment which falls at least one week after the date of submission of the visa application form DS160 and appear for the interview. This new policy came into effective on January 1, 2024.

In quoting an example, the notification clarifies that if a non-immigrant visa applicant has an interview on January 8, 2024, the DS-160 needs to have been completed on or before January 1, 2024. Applicants who have completed and submitted their visa application within one year prior to the date of interview need not complete a new Form DS-160 unless the applicant has received an email from the consular section, advising the applicant to do so.If any changes or corrections are required to be made within the one-week time frame prior to the visa interview, the applicant should notify the consular staff on the day of the interview.

This update can be found here.