Specific travel plan question ds160

[gamingboy845]

Hello

I am going to get my H1B visa stamped in India. The DS160 asks a question:

"Do you have fixed travel plans"?

If I choose yes, it asks me for my dates of arrival and departure from/to the US.

I have a confirmed ticket from India back to US. Hence, that would be my date of arrival into the US. However, it also asks for a date of departure. I plan to go to India next year, but do not have tickets in hand (even the airline does not allow me to book my dates so much early in advance). Can I put a date say a week before my H1B expires? What if later I choose a different date of departure than this one?

I can select No to this question but that may not be correct answer as I already have fixed airline tickets booked for my date to arrive in the US.

Please suggest if others have been in similar situation.

[pras604]

I am confused. Your trip from India-US is confirmed, but not from US-India? Are you in India or US?

Either way, you can put a tentative date, and it does not matter if you fly a different date. DS-160 is more for the VO to understand your need for Visa.

[gamingboy845]

Thanks pras604. I am currently in the US and visiting India. Therefore, I have a confirm ticket back to the US that would be my date of arrival. The date of departure has to be after the date of arrival. In other words, they want to know when I plan to again go out of the US. Since I don't have any airline tickets for that "date of departure", I think I can put a date say 1 week prior to my current H1B expiration date.

Secondly, I looked closely into the DS160 form that explained things further. If we choose "Yes" to the question "Do you have specific travel plans", the help section on the right clearly shows up as:

Help: Travel Plans

If you are unsure of your Date of Arrival in U.S. or Date of Departure from U.S., please provide an estimate.