Trilo

I'm filling out the DS-160 form in advance as I thought as much I would find some questions that I may get stumped on and may need to find a bit more about. Well, it asks if my father is still alive, I tick the 'YES' box, it now asks for his address... now, my father emigrated to the Philippines over a year ago and we haven't spoken for over a year due to a falling out, thus the form will not let me progress any further because I do not know his address. Has anyone else had this kind of experience at all and if so what did you do? For now to progress to the next bit I wrote 'UNKNOWN' for the address line but included the city and country as these I know.

tom169

You'll be able to explain any answers you give at the interview.

Trilo

Two other questions which are puzzling me are the 'Passport Book Number' and 'City Where Passport Was Issued'. I just phoned up the HM Passport Office and they were unhelpful to say the least, the guy on the phone sounded really unsure and did not invoke any confidence in answering the questions. Apparently they cannot give me any info over the phone to inquire where my Passport was issued from but I can write to the Peterborough office with a fee of £10 to try and find out, this can take 40 days! He also said 'Maybe leave the question blank and tell them the information is not available'. Has anyone else filled out this form recently and any advice would be awesome

I believe not all countries passports have a 'Book Number' so maybe the UK is an exception possibly hence the HM Passport Office not really knowing and sounding unsure?

tom169

I entered:

passport book number : does not apply
City issued: London

Mall18

Hi Trilo,
As Tom said, passport book number does not apply and issuing office is wherever you would either have to send off for a new passport or the office you would attend to get a passport issued same day, for us in the Manchester region it's Liverpool, not sure if links are allowed but if you look up 'find a passport office for a fast track appointment' you can enter your postcode and it gives you your local issuing office.
For the West Midlands it's coming up with Birmingham If you lived there when your passport was issued.
Just out of interest are doing the application yourself and not through an Attorney?

Trilo

Good to know that the book number is not needed. I do reside near Birmingham so maybe that is where my passport was issued, it was back in 2010 and I applied through a Post Office form if my memory serves me correct? We are doing the application ourserlves

tom169

I entered London and lived up in Yorkshire at the time. No problem whatsoever.

Rete

I would 96% of all our members, myself included, have done marriage-based visas ourselves. Others who have used attorneys have had multiple problems with the service they have received. Marriage-based visas and adjustment of status stateside are very easy to complete.

Trilo

Yes, after all the horror stories you hear from people that have used attorneys it's not worth the risk, I would never trust something as important as this with someone else either. Myself and my partner are together getting through the process as a team... and the hive mind of BE for advice of course

Trilo

Myself and my fiancee have been going through the DS-160 form today, we were wondering if the question... 'Have you travelled to any countries/regions within the last five years?' ... would this include any airports that have been passed through on the way to the US?

Thanks in advance

tom169

I think Ian's rules will help you through this process:

1) Take each question at face value;
2) Do not ascribe any meaning to the question beyond that which is plainly written; and
3) Do not try to alter the question to fit your circumstances.

S Folinsky

There is some bad info above.
Wait until you get the passport in hand. The number and place of issuance will be on the ID page.

International agreements have pretty much standardized the ID pages on passports. BTW, most passports of late give the name of the government agency that issues ILO city of issuance.

On the ID page the number will be on the top right hand corner. (It is also in the bottom line on the right - this is the machine readable part). The issuing authority will be on the right in the middle. I recall that the UK has changed to something like "HM Passport Office" or some such.

General rule: the info regarding the passport in the DS-160 form must match the ID page .

lizzyq

Looking at a current passport and one from 2003, UK passports no longer have place of issue on them. They have GBR for code (used to be code of issuing state 15 years ago) and IPS for issuing authority (used to be UKPA). I think I just put either United Kingdom or London for place of issue when I did the DS-160 back in 2014. Interestingly the DS-260 doesn't ask for specific place of issue, just "country/authority that issued document".

S Folinsky

At my weekly volunteer work this afternoon I looked at passports from two other countries. I looked at my US passport and the layout of the ID pages were identical in format. My 2014 passport gives Department Of State as Issuing Authority.