Can't save fillable form on USCIS website

[miranez]

I hope I'm in the right area to ask for help.

I am trying to open, fill and save a PDF on the USCIS website.  The form is N-400 (applicationn for Naturalization).  I am able to open, fill and save a PDF file for other immigration forms, then go back, open and make changes, save and send to someone.

The N-400 displays a purple message that tells me to print the form after filling it if I want a copy because it will not save the data.  The attorney I work with is not having this problem on her PC.

I have the most recent version of Adobe Reader DC, Windows, Firefox, Chrome and Microsoft Edge.  I made sure all of these were updated.  I am using Windows 10 Pro on a Microsoft Surface.  I also tried opening, filling in and saving a form on a regular laptop running just Windows 10 and no luck there either.

Can anyone here shed light on whether the problem is the browser, Windows, the Adobe Reader or a glitch on the USCIS website?  As stated above, the problem is only with this particular form.  Immigration offers the option of printing and mailing forms, or in some cases, sending them electronically, so it doesn't make sense that I can't open this.

Thanks!

Deborah

[Bernd Alheit]

The form has not the form save rights. You can save the filled form with Adobe Acrobat, not Acrobat Reader.

[miranez]

Hi, thanks for your reply.  It makes sense, what you say, that the Reader would not be for filling out forms.  Are you suggesting that I open the form in Adobe Acrobat?  I did not know there was a program for just Adobe Acrobat.  I thought all forms were available via the Reader.  I will look into this.

[miranez]

I have another question.  I did a search for Adobe Acrobat and it seems to be an umbrella term for several programs.  Is there a free Adobe Acrobat, or just a trial version? 

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is a reader and my understanding about that is that you can read, or access, a document in a PDF.  It doesn't necessarily mean you can fill in the boxes.  But what's confusing is that I can fill in the boxes but I can't SAVE what I put in the boxes and not all boxes are fillable.  I never had this problem before when I worked for another attorney.  I used a different PC, however.  Currently I'm using a Surface with Windows 10 PRO and I wonder if that has something to do with it.

As a side note, I also tried to access this form on my children's laptops and I got the same result. 

[try67]

The free version is Reader, and the latest version of it (DC) allows you to fill in form fields and save the filled-in file in 99% of cases. This is a unique situation where it's not possible due to how the file was created. It can be easily fixed by the author of the form.

[Bernd Alheit]

The N-400 form was created with LiveCycle Designer. With Acrobat Reader you can fill and print the form.

[try67]

Report this issue to the USCIS. My guess is they "forgot" to apply the Reader Save Rights to the file, making it impossible to save it using the filled-in values.

[miranez]

Hi, thanks for your reply.  The attorney I am working with is able to get to the form, fill it in, edit it, save and print.  We are both using the same form and the same version of the form.  I can open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader, Chrome, Edge and Firefox, but not all fields are fillable even when they should be.  I should have been more clear in my original post.

[Bernd Alheit]

May be that the attorney uses Adobe Acrobat.

[miranez]

I was wondering about that.  I am going to find out because it occurred to me this evening as I was trying to find out abou this.  Thank you!

[disciple_4_ever]

Hi, i know it has been a while since you had this problem, however I am wondering if you ever got it resolved? and how so? I am dealing with the same problem, I can open the N-400 file on adobe reader and type into fields, however cannot save document with information filled in. Only a blank file can be saved. Any response would be greatly appreciated! 

[try67]

Unless they change how the file is created (unlikely) it's not going to change.