New US visa interview rule (July 2026): interview in your home country, and get your DS-160 photo right first

As of July 16, 2026, the US State Department requires most nonimmigrant visa applicants to schedule their interview at a US embassy or consulate in their country of nationality or legal residence, and it now applies extra scrutiny to applications filed at a third-country post. The change affects most visitor, student, and work categories (B-1/B-2, F, M, J, H, L, O, P); diplomatic and a few other categories are excepted. It does not change the DS-160 photo rules, but it does send a lot of people back into their DS-160, so it is a good moment to make sure your photo file passes: a square JPEG between 600x600 and 1200x1200 pixels, under 240 KB, taken in the last 6 months, on a plain background, and never AI-edited (digitally altered photos have been rejected since January 1, 2026).

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What changed on July 16, 2026

The State Department made country-of-nationality or country-of-residence interview processing the worldwide standard. In plain terms: you are now expected to book your visa interview at a US embassy or consulate in the country where you are a national or a legal resident, not wherever an appointment happened to open up first.

Applicants from countries where the US does not run routine visa services use a designated processing post instead. Applying from a third country still happens, but it now carries additional scrutiny and processing risk, so the days of appointment shopping for a faster slot abroad are mostly over. Most nonimmigrant categories are covered, including B-1/B-2 visitor, F and M student, J exchange, and H, L, O, and P work visas. Diplomatic and a small set of other categories are excepted.

Why this is a good moment to re-check your DS-160 photo

Rebooking your interview means going back into your DS-160, and the single most common self-inflicted delay in that form is the photo upload. The portal only accepts a square JPEG between 600x600 and 1200x1200 pixels, no larger than 240 KB, in sRGB. A phone photo straight off the camera is a several-megabyte rectangle and fails the check every time.

Fix the file in the right order: crop it square, resize to 600x600 pixels first, then compress under 240 KB. Do that order and the photo stays sharp; compress a full-resolution photo straight to 240 KB and it turns into a blocky mess that gets rejected on quality.

One thing not to do while you are in there

Do not run the photo through a filter, a beauty mode, or an AI background tool to tidy it up. Since January 1, 2026 the State Department rejects digitally altered, filtered, or AI-generated photos, and for a visa applicant deliberate manipulation can be treated as misrepresentation, which is far worse than a retake. If the background or lighting is wrong, retake against a plain wall in even light. Cropping, resizing, and compressing are fine, because they prepare the file without changing what the photo shows.

Frequently asked questions

Do I now have to do my US visa interview in my home country?

As of July 16, 2026, most nonimmigrant applicants must book their interview at a US embassy or consulate in their country of nationality or legal residence. Third-country applications now face extra scrutiny. Diplomatic and a few other categories are excepted.

Did the July 2026 rule change the DS-160 photo requirements?

No. The photo rules are unchanged: a square JPEG between 600x600 and 1200x1200 pixels, under 240 KB, taken in the last 6 months, plain background, no glasses, and no digital editing. The rule change just means more people are back in their DS-160, so it is a good time to check the photo.

Can I edit my DS-160 photo to make it pass?

No. Since January 1, 2026 digitally altered, filtered, or AI-edited visa photos are rejected, and for visa applicants deliberate manipulation can be treated as misrepresentation. Cropping, resizing, and compressing the file are allowed; changing what the photo shows is not.