DS-260 Expiration and Submission Deadline:
- Does the DS-260 form expire?
- Is there a deadline of submitting my DS-260 form?
- After winning the DV Lottery, when should you fill out the visa form, DS-260?
Those three obvious questions are going to be answered in this guide, read and get the knowledge.
Does the DS-260 form expire?
Yes, the DS-260 form expires. Just as with the other forms by the Immigration Department, other forms by the USCIS, they do expire. But let’s understand what expiry means on these documents.
Every batch of documents or forms that are released by the USCIS or any other department of the United States that needs to collect information from individuals, all those forms have an expiration date.
So their batch numbers always change, and when one batch or serial number comes to the end of when it was intended to serve, then it needs a replacement with a newer version. When it comes to this, then the end date for which those forms were to serve is called the expiration date.
If you take the example of DS-260 form, the DS-260 form normally changes over time, and when we are shifting from one DS-260 form to the next one, the next version with some updates, then we say that the form has reached its expiration.
You’ll see the notification that the DS-260 form will expire at such a date. That’s what we call the expiration. So when you see an expiration date of a particular form, e.g form I-134, form DS-260, form DS-5535, etc, that means that the end of that batch number or that serial number has come and a newer version, normally with some few updates, is going to be rolled out.
Does the expiration date affect your DS-260 form that you have filled and you have submitted?
Definitely no.
When you are filling the DS-260 form, the only form that you get, is the form that is currently serving, even if it has only one day to expiry, that form that you’re filling is the one that is valid at that moment, and there’s no problem with that.
It is the form that you are supposed to fill. Once you fill it and submit it, even if a new version is enrolled after the expiration of the one that was serving your details, they are safe. They are not affected in any way. You are not required to fill a newer DS-260 form. It won’t be possible. So it does not affect your DS-260 form at all.
Is there a deadline for submitting the DS-260 form?
The answer is an absolute yes. The deadline for submitting the DS-260 form is normally 30th September of that fiscal year.
For example, if you are a DV selectee for the DV Lottery 2023, then the deadline for submitting the DS-260 form is the end of the fiscal year 2023, and that is 30th September 2023.
If you are a DV Lottery 2024 winner, then you have until the end of the fiscal year 2024 and that is 30th September 2024.
Normally the end of the fiscal year for a certain DV program is the end of all the interviews regarding that DV program.
So if you are waiting to submit the DS-260 form at the end of the fiscal year, then that’s a very perfect lateness and that means you cannot be scheduled for the interview. Even your DS 260 form wouldn’t be processed. There’s no time for that.
Therefore, if you are a DV winner, the best practice is to submit your DS-260 form as early as you can.
After winning the DV Lottery, when should you fill out the visa form, DS-260?
After checking the results, you find out you are the winner of the diversity of the lottery. The question is, after knowing that you are the winner, when should you go and fill the famous DS-260 form (visa form)? How long should you wait until you go to fill that particular form? Should you feel right away? Should you wait a little bit longer? Does the U.S government through Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) process the visa interviews on first come, first serve basis?
If you find out you have won the diversity of the lottery, you can fill the visa form as soon as possible. But there are some of the things you need to know because you might come to regret later.
You must fill the form for the visa and submit only if you have everything required to have to complete the form. Make sure you have all the important documents.
If you are planning to get married, get married first before you complete the DS-260. Let’s say if you were the winner and you are pregnant or you are dependent of someone and you are pregnant and the child is going to be born in June or July, don’t rush to fill the submit form. You can fill the form, but you don’t need to submit yet. Wait until the child is born, get the passport, and just going to submit all at once.
Once you fill the form and submit, and for sure you know there are some of the information you don’t have, then you need to request for KCC to unlock the DS-260 so that you can fill that particular information to make it complete.
Sometimes KCC can take even seven weeks or nine weeks to just go and unlock your document. Sometimes the stress of waiting for them to unlock the DS-260 is higher than just if you could wait for one more month to go to submit.
Make sure that you have everything before you go to apply, before you go to fill the DS-260. Make sure everything is ready before filling and submitting.
I hope this guide on DS-260 Expiration and Submission Deadline have answered those questions above.
DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.