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Ten printed means your both hand’s fingerprints (All fingers including thumbs make it 10) have been provided to the US government.
If you have applied for a USA visa any time after 2007, your fingerprints would already have been taken by them at some other point of the US visa application process.
Remember, when you visit the US embassy for a visa interview, your fingerprints are taken a day ahead in some countries like India. Those fingerprints are referred to as ‘Ten Printing‘.
This article will discuss:
Have you been ten-printed on the DS-160 form?
How do I know if I was ten printed is a common question while filling DS-160 form Q1 for H1B, B1/B2, H4, etc (or any other visa type) visa stamp.
Answer ‘NO‘ to this question on Form DS-160 if this is your first time applying for any US visa.
If you have given any US visa interview earlier in any US embassy, you should answer ‘YES‘.
I do not remember if I was ten-printed
Should I put ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on my DS-160?
If you do NOT remember that fingerprints were even taken, you can safely answer this as ‘NO‘.
Don’t worry, the US embassy will take your fingerprints again and mark your profile as ten-printed.
10 printing – fingerprinting is done at the OFC center
If you are outside the USA and have applied for a US visa for the first time, you will have 10 printed (or your 10 fingerprints) taken at the OFC center before your Visa interview at the US embassy (in your country).
Ten printed for Child
Have you been Ten printed for Child? The answer is ‘No’ if the child as the child’s fingerprints are not usually taken at the US embassy if the age is less than 14 years.
The child visa is also issued after taking 10 fingerprints if the child is above 14 years and you can answer ‘yes’ to this question if the last visa was issued after age 14.
It does not matter what type of US visa was issued. The fingerprints are taken for every type of visa for all aged between 14 and 80.
USCIS fingerprints vs US embassy Ten Prints
DS 160 ten printing is different than the fingerprints that you send to the FBI for a police clearance certificate or biometric fingerprint given at any USCIS ASC center for H4, L2, or i-485 applications.
The fingerprints collected by USCIS within the US are not shared by the US embassy outside the US. Hence, both are referred to differently.
DS-160 form is filled out to get a visa stamp on the passport and hence the fingerprints are taken by the Department of the State which is a separate US government organization from USCIS.
