Electronic Submission of Forms - FAQ : Usage Questions

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Electronic Submission of Forms

Q1.	A message "ERR102 -- This form has expired or is not effective" is displayed when I try to create a new e-Form application. Why?
Q2.	A message "ERR100 -- Unable to create a blank e-Form" is displayed when I try to create a new e-Form application. Why?
Q3.	Some Chinese characters are not displayed correctly in the e-Form program. Why?
Q4.	When I open an e-Form, the application program asks me to select a font to display the form. Why?
Q5.	The e-Form program asks me to select a font even when I have installed the "Ming(for ISO10646)J" font downloaded from this Web site. Why?
Q6.	I cannot enter or edit any fields after opening an e-Form. Why?
Q7.	I have problems entering a date and the program does not let me continue (the e-Form program keeps rejecting my date inputs). Why?
Q8.	I cannot sign a form. Why?
Q9.	I cannot void a signature. Why?
Q10.	I cannot locate my e-Form document after saving it using the "Save" command. Where can I find it again?
Q11.	How can I view my e-Form again after I have encrypted it using the "Encrypt" function?

Q1.

A message "ERR102 -- This form has expired or is not effective" is displayed when I try to create a new e-Form application. Why?

A1.

To protect the application details from unauthorized access, the e-Form program is implemented with an encryption feature. A digital certificate is bundled in the form for the encryption. It is the current practice of Certificate Authorities that each certificate will be valid for only a fixed period. Therefore, to safeguard the security of data submitted to departments, a validity period is set for each e-Form. Upon the expiration of the e-Form, it cannot be used to make new applications again. The best way to resolve this problem is to uninstall your existing e-Form, download and install the latest version of the e-Form from the Government Forms Web site at ( www.info.gov.hk/forms/english/main.htm ) again.

Q2.

A message "ERR100 -- Unable to create a blank e-Form" is displayed when I try to create a new e-Form application. Why?

A2.

To create a new e-Form application, you have to install

the e-Form program, which enables you to fill-in, sign (if applicable), save and encrypt your e-Form application; and
the e-Form, which is the blank Government form in electronic format.

The e-Form program will return the above error message when no pre-installed e-Form is found. Please download and install the required e-Form from the Government Forms Web site at (www.info.gov.hk/forms/english/main.htm ) and re-try again.

Q3.	Some Chinese characters are not displayed correctly in the e-Form program. Why?
A3.	The font file you are using may not be suitable for the display of Chinese characters in the specific form. To ensure that those Chinese characters can be viewed properly, you can download the font supporting Hong Kong Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS) .

Q4.

When I open an e-Form, the application program asks me to select a font to display the form. Why?

A4.

To enable the input and display of Chinese characters in a Chinese or Bilingual form, installation of appropriate font file(s) is required. The e-Form program has the functionality to detect the availability of such font files. If it is not found, you will be prompted to select for a replacement font. To best view Chinese characters in the e-Forms, you are recommended to download the font supporting Hong Kong Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS) from the "Download Area" of this Web site.

Q5.

The e-Form program asks me to select a font even when I have installed the "Ming(for ISO10646)J" font downloaded from this Web site. Why?

A5.

The e-Form program will not request you to select a font file again unless your font file is not installed properly. Please double-check your font file installation. If you are a Microsoft Windows user, please use the Windows Explorer to locate the "FONTS" sub-folder in the "Windows" folder. Then, right click on the "Fonts" sub-folder to open "Properties" and make sure the "Enable thumbnail view" check-box is checked. Alternatively, you may simply check the check-box and refresh the font list. Please note that you have to restart the e-Form application program to enable the change.

Q6.

I cannot enter or edit any fields after opening an e-Form. Why?

A6.

Please make sure that the cursor is positioned in a field by using the mouse or the <tab> key. A field is editable if it meets all of the following criteria:

The role you have chosen is allowed to fill in;
The form has not been signed (If you need to modify the form after signing, you need to void the signature first and then sign again after modification); and
The form has not expired. (You can only view and print expired e-Forms. Please visit the Government Forms Web site at (www.info.gov.hk/forms/english/main.htm) to locate and download the latest version of e-Forms.)

Q7.

I have problems entering a date and the program does not let me continue (the e-Form program keeps rejecting my date inputs). Why?

A7.

Date fields must be entered in a pre-determined format. The most common format is dd/mm/yyyy where dd stands for day, mm for month and yyyy for year. Some reasons for date inputs being rejected are:

An invalid date, such as 29/02/2001 (not a leap year) or 31/04/2001 has been entered;
The leading "0" has not been added, i.e. "1" entered instead of "01";
There exist non-displayable characters in the field, e.g. space, underscore, etc;
The "Date of Birth" entered is a date in the future; and
The "Start" date is later than the "End" date or "From" date is later than the "To" date.

Q8.

I cannot sign a form. Why?

A8.

There may be several reasons for this:

You have not filled in all mandatory fields as required;
Some fields that you have filled are incorrect;
You have not provided the required attachments;
The signing sequence is wrong (i.e. someone has to digitally sign the form (say Part A of the form) before you can apply your own digital signature (say Part B of the form).)
The certificate is not issued by a recognized CA in HKSAR which is allowed by the e-Form for digital signature purpose.
You have not installed the e-Cert Control Manager and other required software.
Your smart card reader is not properly installed.
You do not have a valid digital certificate embedded in your Smart ID Card.

Additionally, if the message "Certificate has expired. Please renew or apply for a valid certificate from a recognized Certificate Authority." is displayed, it means that your certificate has expired. Each certificate is issued with a validity period (normally one year) and an expired certificate cannot be used to sign the e-Form. To obtain a valid certificate, please visit respective Certification Authority Web site for details.

Q9.	I cannot void a signature. Why?
A9.	A signature can only be voided by the original signer but not by other people. Therefore, you have to present the digital certificate and its password that was used at the time of signing for authentication before you can void a signature.

Q10.	I cannot locate my e-Form document after saving it using the "Save" command. Where can I find it again?
A10.	In most cases, you will be able to find your saved e-Form in the default "saved" folder. The default "saved" folder is "$EFORM/saved", where $EFORM stands for the e-Form program installation directory. Otherwise, the saved form is found in the folder that you have selected to override the default folder.

Q11.

How can I view my e-Form again after I have encrypted it using the "Encrypt" function?

A11.

Once you have encrypted your e-Form with the "encrypt" function provided, only the authorised personnel of the receiving department will be able to view and process your encrypted e-Form. To facilitate your reviewing of an application before submission, the e-Form program will save an additional copy of your completed e-Form in the "saved" folder before encryption. You may just open this saved e-Form to review / update your application and encrypt it again before submission.

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Last review date: 28-06-2011