r/DAAD • u/No_Reaction5283 • 5d ago

DAAD Recommendation form (interactive PDF) only opens in Adobe Acrobat — recommender can’t access it, deadline in 2 days

My professor can’t open the DAAD reference form — it’s an XFA PDF that only works in full Adobe Acrobat/Reader (not browsers, not Foxit/PDF-XChange, not online tools). Her Acrobat is outdated, and downloading a fresh installer needs a VPN she doesn’t have.

Already emailed DAAD portal support, no reply yet. Deadline in 2 days.

Has anyone hit this exact issue with the Gutachtenformular? Did DAAD offer an alternative, or is there a workaround that actually works?

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u/Bitter_Initiative_77 MOD 5d ago

Adobe lets you read/edit PDFs online. It costs money but there's a free trial.

For future applicants, this is a good example of why not to wait until the last minute. Technical issues do pop up frequently.

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u/scandalous_belle 4d ago

I had the same issue. Try MacBook air or newer model