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DS-160 Passport Information
This section takes your passport number, its issuing authority, and its issuance and expiry dates. It looks like transcription. The part that matters is the expiry date, because a passport that is not valid far enough into the future is a ground of ineligibility in its own right.
This page explains what the rule is and where it comes from. It is not legal advice.
What the section covers
- Passport or travel document number and book number where applicable
- Country or authority that issued it
- Issuance and expiration dates
- Whether a passport has ever been lost or stolen
The six-month rule: both wordings are in the FAM
Applicants meet this rule three times — on the booking site, at the interview, and at the border — and the wordings do not match. Our appointment guide records the two booking systems:
| Source | How it words the requirement |
|---|---|
| USTravelDocs | valid six months beyond your intended period of stay |
| AIS | valid six months beyond your intended date of entry |
Neither is wrong. They are describing two different decisions, and the Foreign Affairs Manual contains both. Read on 21 September 2026:
The ineligibility ground — what makes someone inadmissible — at 9 FAM 302.1-4(A) (CT:VISA-1790; 06-29-2023):
A nonimmigrant without a passport valid for at least six months from the date of the individual's application for admission is ineligible under INA 212(a)(7)(B).
The issuance rule — what a consular officer applies when deciding whether to put a visa in your passport — at 9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(1) (CT:VISA-1762; 04-27-2023):
An NIV is only to be issued in passports that are valid for at least six months beyond the initial period of contemplated stay in the United States…
So AIS is describing the border test and USTravelDocs is describing the issuance test. Meet the issuance rule — six months beyond your intended stay — because it is the stricter of the two and it is the one applied before you ever reach a port of entry.
The FAM lists exceptions to the issuance rule: certain A, G and NATO travellers under 22 CFR 41.21(b); cases where the passport requirement has been waived under INA 212(d)(4); and F students granted admission for the period required to complete the course on their I-20.
If your passport is valid, but not for the whole trip
9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(3) (CT:VISA-1991; 05-24-2024) covers this directly, and the outcome is not a refusal:
If an applicant presents a passport valid for more than six months but not sufficient to permit admission for the entire stay contemplated, you should urge the applicant to have the passport extended, renewed, or replaced before visa issuance. If this is not feasible until after their arrival in the United States, you may issue the visa.
The officer is then told to warn you that CBP may limit your initial period of stay because of the passport, and to explain how to seek an extension from DHS. The same paragraph is blunt about the floor: a passport valid for six months or less would make you inadmissible at the port of entry.
A valid visa in an expired passport still works
This is the question applicants ask most often about this section, and the FAM answers it plainly at 9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(4) (CT:VISA-1395; 10-19-2021):
When a passport containing a valid visa expires, the expiration of the passport has no effect on the validity of that visa.
The passport may be either the one in which the visa stamp has been placed, or a new passport. Thus, an individual can present two passports; one which fulfills the visa requirement and the other the passport requirement. The nationality, as indicated in the new passport, must be the same as that shown in the passport bearing the visa foil.
So: carry both books. The old one carries the visa, the new one satisfies the validity requirement, and the nationality on both must match. Do not try to have the visa moved.
Note the separate rule for getting a visa: an officer must not issue a visa into an expired passport unless collateral documentation together with it satisfies INA 101(a)(30) and INA 212(a)(7)(B)(i)(I).
The countries whose passports are treated as valid for six months longer
Some countries have arrangements with the United States under which their passports are recognised as valid for six months beyond the expiry date printed in them, for the purposes of INA 212(a)(7)(B)(i)(I). This is the thing usually called the "six-month club", and it is why some nationalities appear to be held to a shorter margin.
Two cautions the FAM attaches, which matter more than the list:
- You will still not be admitted beyond the actual expiry date printed in the passport, and your stay cannot be extended past it until the passport itself is extended.
- The arrangement affects the documentary ineligibility test. It does not extend your permission to be in the country.
From 9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(2) (CT:VISA-2143; 03-26-2025), transcribed on 21 September 2026:
Albania, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Antilles, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria*, Burma, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia*, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See (Vatican City), Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kosovo*, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria (NRA), North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay*, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia*, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore**, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay*, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.
* These countries extend the same reciprocity to U.S. citizens. ** Singapore's reciprocity applies only to U.S. citizens already in Singapore, not to those entering it.
This list changes. It carries its own change date in the FAM and countries are added and removed. Check 9 FAM 403.9 rather than relying on this transcription if the margin matters to your trip.
One more restriction
If your passport carries an endorsement saying it is not valid for travel to the United States, an officer must not issue a visa until the issuing authority removes the endorsement.
Two scope limits worth knowing
The same FAM section is precise about who each ground applies to:
- INA 212(a)(7)(B) does not apply to immigrant visa applicants. It is the nonimmigrant documentation ground.
- INA 212(a)(7)(A) does not apply to nonimmigrant visa applicants. It is the immigrant counterpart.
If you are reading advice about "the 212(a)(7) passport rule" without that distinction, check which one is meant.
A lost or stolen passport
The section asks whether a passport has ever been lost or stolen. Answer it accurately. A previously reported lost or stolen passport may be flagged in systems the officer can see, and an inconsistency between your answer and that record is a worse problem than the lost passport itself — the misrepresentation ground is set out on the security and background questions.
If the number is wrong
A passport number typed incorrectly is one of the errors worth fixing with a fresh DS-160 rather than hoping — it is the identifier that ties your application to your travel document. See the DS-160 mistakes that actually matter.
Frequently asked questions
How long must my passport be valid for a U.S. visa?
Meet the issuance rule: six months beyond your intended period of stay. That is what a consular officer applies before putting a visa in your passport, and it is stricter than the border test of six months from your application for admission.
Six months from when, exactly?
It depends which decision is being made. The ineligibility ground (9 FAM 302.1-4(A)) runs from the date of application for admission. The issuance rule (9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(1)) runs from the end of your contemplated stay. Plan against the second.
Is my country exempt from the six-month rule?
Some countries have arrangements under which their passports are recognised as valid for six months beyond the printed expiry, for the documentary test. The list is above, transcribed from 9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(2). You still cannot be admitted beyond the printed expiry date.
My passport expires while I am in the United States. Is that allowed?
The FAM tells officers to urge you to renew first, but permits issuing the visa where that is not feasible — while warning that CBP may limit your initial period of stay because of it. Renew before travelling where you can.
Does a visa in an expired passport still work?
Yes. The FAM states that when a passport containing a valid visa expires, the expiration has no effect on the validity of that visa. Carry both books — the old one with the visa and a new valid one — and the nationality shown on both must match.
What if my passport was lost or stolen?
Declare it. The question is asked directly, and records of reported losses exist.
Official sources
- 9 FAM 302.1 — ineligibility based on inadequate documentation, read 21 September 2026; the six-month rule is at 302.1-4(A)
- 9 FAM 403.9 — NIV issuances, read 21 September 2026; passport validity is at 403.9-3(B)
- 9 FAM 201.1 — nonimmigrant travel without a visa and/or passport, where waivers under INA 212(d)(4) are detailed
- 8 U.S.C. §1182 — inadmissible aliens