Importing a DS-160 from Docketwise

Moving cases across from Docketwise? Start a form from the DS-160 you already have there, instead of retyping it. You print the client’s DS-160 smart form to PDF, upload it, and see what will import before the form is created. The form then opens with the client’s answers in place, ready for you to check, send to the client or e-file.

Before you start

• A business workspace. Importing from Docketwise is offered in business workspaces only.
• Chrome on a computer. The import reads the layout of a PDF saved with Chrome’s Save as PDF.
• The client’s answers filled in on the form in Docketwise. The import reads only what the print shows.
• A form credit. Creating the form uses one, like any other form.

If Docketwise already created the application on CEAC, you can read it back from CEAC with its Application ID instead: see Importing a DS-160 from CEAC.

1. Print the DS-160 from Docketwise

1. In Docketwise, open the client’s DS-160 smart form at its Intake step.
2. Open the actions menu (the printer icon) and choose Print questions. Tick Select all: Print questions prints only the questions that are ticked, and a PDF of some of them imports only those. The printable copy opens in a new browser tab.
3. In that tab, print and choose Save as PDF. Use Chrome, and under More settings turn on Background graphics: without it, the answers chosen with buttons and checkboxes are left out of the PDF.

Print settings that matter

Setting	Choose	Why
Print questions	Select all	Only the ticked questions are printed, so only those can be imported.
Browser	Chrome	The import reads the layout Chrome gives the page.
Destination	Save as PDF	A PDF printer, such as Microsoft Print to PDF, saves a layout the import cannot read.
Background graphics	On, under More settings	Without it, the answers chosen with buttons and checkboxes are missing from the PDF.
Everything else	Leave paper size, margins and scale as set	The import reads Chrome’s usual layouts, including a page scaled down to fit.

2. Upload the PDF

On the Forms screen, click New DS-160 form, choose Import from Docketwise and drop the PDF onto the upload area, or choose it. PDFs up to 25 MB are accepted.

• If the PDF holds only part of the DS-160, the page names the Docketwise tabs that are not in it. Print the questions again with Select all, or create the form from this PDF and fill in the rest later.
• If the PDF doesn’t say what the trip is for, choose the visa. Without it, the answers on the visa’s own pages, such as the E-visa pages, would be left out. It goes into the form as the purpose of trip, which you can change later.

Start from*required

A blank formEvery section starts empty. Fill it in yourself or send your client a link.A copy of a formReuse answers from a form already in this workspace, section by section.Import from DocketwiseStart from a DS-160 printed to PDF from Docketwise.Import from CEACRead a DS-160 already on CEAC, with its Application ID and security answer.A demo formA fictional applicant with every answer filled in, to try an e-file run. Not billed.

3. Check what will import

Before anything is created, the page reads the PDF and shows you:

• Check this is the right applicant: the name, date and place of birth, nationality, passport, visa, home address, email, phone and marital status, as they will be saved.
• Answers by section: how many answers go into each section of the form.
• Check after importing: imported answers to look at, for example a long answer that Docketwise’s print cut short.
• Not imported: answers that could not be carried over, grouped by why.

Answers to import for Alex TAYLOR: 214

Check this is the right applicant

Name

TAYLOR, ALEX

Date of birth

15 MAR 1990

Place of birth

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Nationality

AUSTRALIA

Passport number

PA0000000

Passport expires

15 MAR 2033

Visa

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL (E3)

Home address

1 EXAMPLE STREET, SYDNEY, NSW, 2000, AUSTRALIA

Email

ALEX.TAYLOR@EXAMPLE.COM

Marital status

SINGLE

Answers by section (6 sections)

• Personal Information - Part 19
• Personal Information - Part 26
• Purpose of Visa11
• Previous U.S. Travel History14
• Address and Phone Details18
• Passport Information9

Check after importing (1)

• Current Occupation: Taken from a text area in Docketwise's print, which leaves out any lines scrolled out of view. Check it is complete.

Not imported (4)

Could not be read as printed

• Social Security Number (if any)
  XXX-XX-0000 (masked in the print)
• Please provide all of the applicant's employers
  From: 08/2021 (not a full date)

Not asked on the DS-160

• Please provide the following trip details
  Principal applicant date of birth (if any): 03/15/1990
• Tell us about each of the applicant's children (if any)
  Full name: Sam TAYLOR; Date of Birth: 06/01/2018

The PDF is kept with the form, so you can go back to it.

Reason	What it means
Could not be read as printed	The print doesn’t hold a usable value: a Social Security number masked as XXX-XX-1234, a date known only to the month or year, or a full name typed in one case, so its surnames can’t be told from its given names. Enter these by hand.
No matching DS-160 option	The answer names a choice the DS-160 doesn’t offer.
Question not recognised	A question the import doesn’t know yet.
Not asked for this application	The DS-160 asks it only for other visa types or other answers, for example a petition number on an E-2.
Not asked on the DS-160	Docketwise collects it, the DS-160 doesn’t: children, a parent’s address, several security questions the State Department has dropped.

The form name is filled in with the applicant’s name unless you’ve typed one. Answers are saved in capitals, the way the form editor saves them. Click Create form to create it.

4. After importing

The form’s overview shows an Imported from Docketwise banner with the date and file name, Download original PDF and View import report. The report page lists the answers to check, each linked to its section, and everything that wasn’t imported. The original PDF stays with the form, and each download is recorded in the form’s history. In field history, each imported answer shows as created by whoever ran the import, marked Imported from Docketwise.

Imported from Docketwise

Imported on Oct 1, 2026 from TAYLOR-ALEX-DS160.pdf.

Download original PDFView import report

Answers to complete by hand

Open View import report and work through it before you e-file:

• Check after importing: open each answer from its link and compare it with Docketwise, for example a long answer the print cut short.
• Could not be read as printed: type these in, such as the full Social Security number or an exact date.
• Anything the DS-160 asks that Docketwise didn’t collect: the form overview marks a section incomplete until its required questions are answered. Fill them in yourself, or send the client their link to finish them: see Emailing Clients Their Intake Link.

When every section is complete, the form is ready to review and e-file like any other: see Reviewing a Client’s Answers.

Troubleshooting

If the PDF cannot be imported, the page says why. Each message, and what to do:

The page says	What to do
That file is not a PDF	Upload the PDF you saved from Docketwise, not a screenshot or a Word file.
That PDF is too large to import	The limit is 25 MB. A DS-160 saved with Chrome’s Save as PDF is far smaller; a file this size is usually a scan, which cannot be imported either.
This PDF is password-protected	Save it again from Docketwise without a password and upload that file.
This PDF could not be opened	The file looks damaged or incomplete, often from an interrupted download. Save it again and upload the new file.
This PDF holds pictures of the pages rather than their text	It is a scan, a photo, or a PDF printer saved the pages as images. Print the questions again and save the page with Chrome’s Save as PDF.
This PDF is not a DS-160 printed from Docketwise	It has no “DS-160 for …” heading. Open the client’s DS-160 at its Intake step, choose Print questions, and save that page.
This DS-160 was not saved with Chrome’s Save as PDF	Print the questions again in Chrome and choose Save as PDF as the destination, not a PDF printer such as Microsoft Print to PDF.
We couldn’t read any answers in this PDF	Usually only some questions were ticked in Print questions. Print again with Select all.
No answers could be read from it	The form in Docketwise is empty. Check that the client’s answers are filled in there, then print the questions again.
Laid out in a way the import cannot read yet	Printing again is unlikely to help. We are told when an import fails, so we can add the layout. For now, create the form without importing it.
The PDF could not be read. Try again.	Something went wrong on our side. Upload the PDF again in a minute.

A PDF that fails to import is kept, encrypted, for 30 days so we can fix the import for its layout, then deleted.

Supported and unsupported PDFs

Imports	Does not import
A DS-160 smart form printed with Print questions and saved with Chrome’s Save as PDF	A scan or a photo of the printed pages
The same with only some tabs ticked: only those tabs import, and the page says which are missing	A PDF saved by a PDF printer, such as Microsoft Print to PDF
A page scaled down to fit when it was printed	A password-protected PDF
Any visa type the DS-160 offers, E-1 and E-2 pages included	Other Docketwise forms and questionnaires, or a DS-160 from another tool