How to change name in visa appointment confirmation

As part of your application process for US Visa Stamping at a US Consulate or US Embassy, you need to use the US Visa Appointment Online booking system at ustraveldocs.com. The actual online appointment booking system is redirected to CGI Federal website. Sometimes, some users when creating the profile or going through the process on the CGI Federal website, they get the error “Your personal details match the profile which already exists in our database…“. You cannot proceed further without resolving that error. In this article, we outline the reason for the error and how you can get it fixed.

“Your personal details match the profile which already exists in our databsae” : US Visa Appointment Booking Error

In the below section, we will discuss the reason for this error, why it occurs, and what are the common solutions as suggested by previous users who got the same error.

What is the Visa Profile Match error ? When do you get it ?

After you created your profile on CGI Federal website and you are in entering your personal data in the relevant section such as your Passport Number, you may get the error that says like below:

‘Your personal details match the profile which already exists in our database. The user id of that profile is “XXXX”. If you created this profile in the past and forgot your password, please use “Forget your password?” function on the login screen. if this email isn’t familiar to you, please contact our helpline through Provide Feedback option in the left menu or by sending the email to our helpline. Please don’t forget to attach the scanned copy of your passport data page to your feedback message/email.’

Below is the screenshot of the above error as it appears on ustraveldocs.com or CGI Federal website.

What is the reason for the Error “Your personal details match the profile which already exists in our database..“ ?

You would get this error because your passport number matches with another profile that already exists on the CGI Federal or USTravelDocs website. The US Visa appointment booking website usually creates a unique profile based on passport number and when it gets a new profile request for the same passport number, it shows this error. Below are some of the common reasons that you can end up in this situation.

• Someone other than you Booked Appointment for you : In the past when your US Visa appointment was booked, someone else created a profile for you and used your personal details to book your appointment. This usually happens in cases such as H1B, H4, L1, L2 or other visas, when the employer books the appointment on behalf of their employees. This could be your current company or your previous company that you worked for, who created this profile and booked your appointment. It could also be in cases where you used an agency or an agent to book visa stamping appointment.
• Forgot Previous Email : It could also be that, you have created a profile in the past and you forgot that email login and have created a new profile now and using that to book appointment.

In a nutshell, the main reason for the error is a duplicate profile that exists based on your passport number. Now, let’s look at how to fix the error.

How to fix “Your personal details match the profile …” Error?

Below are some of the solutions to fix the profile exists error.

When you are on the error screen, you would also see an option on the left-hand navigation that says “Provide Feedback” as shown in the below screenshot. You need to click on that first.

After you select that option, you will get a form that has two options. One is you need to select the reason for feedback from the dropdown. In that, you should select “Online System Errors“. Also, you have an option to add an attachment, you should add a copy of your passport that has your details. Both the front and backside of the passport with your biographic info and address information. See the below screenshot on how it looks.

In the Comments section, you need to write two sentences saying you do not have access to the previous email and you are not associated with your company or agency and now doing the appointment booking on your own. You need to give the current email ID that you want to use.

Once you submit this form, you should hear back from them within 48 to 72 hours. You would get an email confirmation from them. Once you get confirmation, you can login with the given new email ID and you can check the profile by ‘update profile’ section on the left hand navigation. You can verify the passport and other info there. If any mistakes, you can update them there.

You can contact your employer or agency, who have booked your appointment in the past and ask them to remove your passport and profile info from that. This may or may not be possible, if you are not working with the company and it can be a hassle to chase others. But, this is an option for you to try though, if you have access to the people who booked your previous appointment. This is the fastest as there is no need to wait, if you get hold of the person or company.

Option 3 : Call Customer Support and ask to Merge Profiles

You can call USTravelDocs customer service or email them and ask them to merge the profiles. They will ask you to again email and submit proof for this so that they know that you own the passport. This is more or less like the first option. This email and phone number for support varies by country. For India, the support email is

What was your experience trying to solve the error? Share your experience in the comments below.

You can also check out details of other common errors like “Error occurred while loading a Visaualforce Page”  or “Your Group Size is Larger than current allocation”

When applying for a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa to the U.S., such as a visitor visa, you will need to complete State Department Form DS-160 online. Then you will print it out. But what if you're looking at the printout, and see that you have made a mistake; perhaps spelling your own name wrong, or reversing the numbers on your birthday. There's no obvious way to go back and redo the form.

However, there's no need to panic, either. Although it's true that the State Department does not provide a way to go back and change an already submitted DS-160, you can go online to submit a new, corrected DS-160, print the new confirmation page, and bring that to your interview at the consulate or embassy.

Although a birth date or wrong name is considered a material mistake, some minor mistakes might not be material to your application. Still it's best to submit a corrected DS-160 before you go to the consular interview, if at all possible.

Making Corrections If You Submitted Form DS-160 Within Last 30 Days

Dealing with the error might be less work than you think. First, check how many days have gone by since you submitted the original application.

If it is less than 30 days, go back to the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) website page for the DS-160. Click the tab for "Retrieve an Application." Hopefully you took note of the application ID number from the DS-160 you submitted earlier, because you'll need to enter that application ID number in the box. Then click the Retrieve Application button.

In the next dialog box, click "Create an Application." Next, you'll have to answer the security questions to get back into your form. Once you're in, correct your mistake, then review everything, then electronically sign and submit the application. You will be given a new confirmation and bar code to print and bring to your interview.

Making Corrections If You Submitted Form DS-160 More Than 30 Days Ago

If more than 30 days have gone by since you submitted the application with the mistake on it, you can upload that application back into CEAC, if you saved it on to your computer or other storage device. Go back to the CEAC website, click on DS-160, Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application, choose the consulate or embassy where you will be applying from the drop-down menu, and then click the "Upload an Application" tab. Choose the location of your saved file, and click the Upload Data button.

After making your changes, save and submit the new application. You will be given a new confirmation and bar code.

If you never saved your original application, and it has been more than 30 days since you submitted it, you'll need to start over. Go back on the CEAC website and fill in a new DS-160. Print the confirmation page for this new application.

Handling Corrected Form DS-160 When You Attend Your Visa Interview

If you used the first (incorrect) DS-160 submission to schedule your visa appointment or pay the visa application fee already, you will need to bring the confirmation pages from both the new (corrected) and the original (incorrect) DS-160 to your interview.

If you have not yet scheduled your interview or paid the fee for the nonimmigrant visa, you're probably okay just bringing the confirmation page from the newer, corrected DS-160. (You should bring the old one too, just in case, but make sure you mark it as the old one.)

If you do not discover the mistake until right before your interview, you might still have an opportunity to correct the mistake. When you check in for your appointment, let the consulate employee know that you would like to correct an error on your application. The consulate employee can advise you whether the mistake is material to your application and how you should proceed.

In some cases, the employee can correct mistakes directly in the consular database, in which case you would not need to correct your DS-160.

If not, some consulates also have computers available for you to use to create a new application. You might even be allowed to leave the consulate and use a computer at a nearby location to create a new application and then come back later in the day. Policies vary from consulate to consulate, depending on each consulate's local resources and workload.

It's not a good idea to show up for your interview expecting the visa officer to make a correction to the DS-160 at that time, however. You are the only one who can edit your DS-160. If you made a mistake that is material to your application and it is not corrected prior to your interview, you could be required to reschedule for another day, if the mistake is material to your application.

Nevertheless, even if you do not discover the mistake until right before or even during the interview, you should inform the officer right away. Do not keep silent about a mistake on the DS-160 in the hopes that the consular officer will not notice. Some mistakes can affect the officer's decision whether to issue you a visa. But a visa officer at the interview might determine that some mistakes don't need correction, such as a misspelling on an address of a company you worked for five years ago.

Even if the officer requires you to reschedule your interview, that's much better than risking an allegation of fraud down the road.

The information you input into your DS-160 can also end up on your printed visa. So, if you make a mistake in your birthday, it could end up being printed incorrectly on your visa. It is extremely important to correct any mistake in your biographical information. Otherwise, it could result in delays in receiving your visa and cause big problems when you actually try to use the visa for travel.