Please refer to this FAQ document published by DHS for answers to most questions related to installing the correct software and using the forms.
If you try to open a form and see a “Please wait…” message, this means you have not successfully opened the form in Adobe Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat Professional.
The most common cause of this problem is when your web browser attempts to open the form for you. Your web browser settings may be configured to attempt to open PDF documents directly in your browser, instead of in the correct software.
SOLUTION:
- Be sure Adobe Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat Professional is installed on your computer.
- Save the form to your computer, such as in your Documents folder or on your Desktop.
- Need more help with this step? Click here to learn how to download a linked file in your web browser.
- Locate the form where you saved it, then right-click it and choose to open it in Adobe Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat Professional.
There are two types of PDF versions provided. The Reader version is recommended for most users.
If you have the free Adobe Reader DC software, use the Reader PDF version of the forms.
If you have a licensed copy of Adobe Acrobat DC software, use the Pro PDF version of the forms.
The Pro version of the PDF forms is intended for users who have installed a fully licensed copy of Adobe Acrobat Professional.
Pro forms have all the same functions as the Reader forms. They also include the ability to import from earlier PDF versions of the form. This feature is most helpful in the future when newer versions of the documents may be released. At that time, you may use a licensed copy of Adobe Acrobat Professional to import data from an earlier Reader form into a new Pro form.
The new interactive PDF documents average 3-6 MB in size when completed and can only be correctly viewed in Adobe Reader DC. To reduce the file size or to make it easier for others to open the document, you may wish to “flatten” the document by printing to PDF.
Various print to PDF software is available commercially. There are also free tools available online such as CutePDF Writer. We encourage you to carefully investigate which option will work best for you. We’re sorry, but we are unable to provide support around Print to PDF functionality.
Once correctly installed, the user can “print” the document but choose the PDF creation software from their list of available printers. This allows the user to save a flattened, non-interactive version of the document which can be more easily shared with others.
IMPORTANT: Take time to ensure you have installed Adobe Reader DC. Other versions of Adobe Reader (such as Adobe Reader 9, X, XI) or other PDF viewing/editing software (such as CutePDF, FoxIt, PDF Pro, PDFforge, Preview on Mac OS X and many more) may cause unexpected results, such as:
- A warning page indicating that you are using an incorrect version of the software may display;
- Unintended formatting differences like odd font sizes, unexpected spacing problems, or missing fields/sections;
- Glitches or crash which may result in lost data.