Forms, brochures and other documents on the DHS site are stored as PDF (Portable Document Format) files. These files are highly compressed (to save on download times) while keeping all of the same formatting as the original document. The PDF is also a truly "cross platform" format, meaning these documents will look and work the same whether you are using a DOS, Windows, Macintosh or Unix system.

Most states government sites have adopted the PDF format as a publishing standard for online documents and forms.  To view and print PDFs, you must have Adobe's Acrobat Reader (version 5.0 or better) installed.  This program is available for free download by going directly to www.adobe.com

Blank Screen with Internet Explorer Users

Should you experience PDF files appearing as a blank window within Internet Explorer after downloading, follow the appropriate steps below to resolve the issue:

Adobe Acrobat Reader
If you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader version 5 or earlier, upgrade to version 6 or later.

Can't Print PDF Files

• Troubleshooting Guides for Adobe Reader

Areas of form is Blacked Out

If some documents have areas that are blacked out, first try upgrading to Acrobat Reader version 5 or later. If you are still unable to view or print these files directly, upgrade your printer driver on your machine and when you go to print select "Print as image".

Right click on the link for the form and select "Save Target As..." and save it to your hard drive. Then open the form in Acrobat Reader separate from the browser.