Embassy of the United States Minsk Belarus

Step 1: To complete your online visa application, you need a digital photo. Please read carefully the requirements to upload your photo and the photo specifications.

Step 2: ALL visa applicants are required to fill in the online application form (DS-160).  You can fill out an electronic visa application form DS-160 yourself either by accessing it from your home or work computer or by visiting an Internet café, a post office or library that has Internet access in your hometown, even if you do not speak English.  If you are not familiar with a PC or you have never used the Internet, you can go to one of the following Internet cafés in Minsk where you can receive assistance filling out your DS-160 (DISCLAIMER: The Embassy has no control over the prices of services provided by the Internet cafes and agencies listed. These costs may vary -- according to applicants who have used their services, the variation is high (prices range from 1$ to 10$). Therefore, we recommend that visa applicants do their own ‘price versus convenience’ surveys before selecting an Internet cafe or agency).

The DS-160 is available in Russian.  To be able to read the Russian translation of the English fields of the form, applicants may select “русский” in the “Select Tooltip Language” box at the top right corner of the page.  After you have done that, a box with a Russian translation will appear each time you will point the cursor to English text.

Once completed, the information in the DS-160 will be electronically transmitted to the Department of State computer system. The applicant must then print the confirmation page that includes some biographical information and a bar code confirmation number. Before you begin completing your application you must upload a photo in order to submit your application. If the photo you upload is not accepted as suitable, or is not a photo of yourself, you will be given the option to continue without a photo. In this instance only, where you have successfully submitted the application, you may bring a photo meeting our paper photo requirements to your interview. Applicants must bring the DS-160 Confirmation Page to the Embassy on the day of their interview.  If the online application has not been completed fully and accurately, the applicant will be requested to return for a second interview with a newly completed application.

As you complete the visa application, save a copy on your hard drive and click ‘save’ often. Fill out all required information completely and correctly, including selecting the appropriate visa type. Significant errors or information marked as “N/A”, “Nil”, etc. may result in your application being rejected at the time of your interview. This would require you to complete the entire application again and to reschedule a visa interview.

Frequently asked questions for the Online DS-160 Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application

Here (PDF/150kb) you can find a Russian-English glossary of most common professions and occupations that may help you translate your occupation from Russian into English for “Occupation” field of the DS-160 Application Form.