Blue ink on forms?

I noticed several people have posted about the need to fill out the various PETS forms in blue ink so as to avoid the appearance that the form may be a photocopy.

- Where is this written, and does it still apply?
- Does the entire form need to be in blue ink, or will the signatures suffice?

I ask because the FAVN form is an editable PDF, so I just entered in all the info on the computer and will print it out to hand to the vet.  (Obviously, as a result, it will all be in black ink.)  And, because I'm anal about some things, I edited the EC 998 form to have everything typewritten in there as well, so they match/are both completely legible/etc.

So...do I need to scrap either one and handwrite it in blue ink?  Will it be OK if I just have the vet sign in blue ink?

Apologies if I'm overanalyzing, but I haven't seen any mention of the blue ink guideline, so I wanted to clarify before I get these forms started this week at the vet's office.

Thanks!

The blue ink rule is a general rule for most official/legal documents that I have always followed no matter what the document.  Although, I know my doc didnt fill out the FAVN form in blue ink, so I hope they arent super anal about that.  Basically, they will be able to tell its an original due to the sticker, so the ink colour shouldnt matter. I am, however, going to make sure that the EC 998 is in blue ink just to be on the safe side.  I would worry that they would question why the form has been edited to be typewritten and I believe that ALL of it needs to be filled out by the USDA accredited vet, not by the owner.

I would worry that they would question why the form has been edited to be typewritten and I believe that ALL of it needs to be filled out by the USDA accredited vet, not by the owner.

Hm, I was under the impression that I could save the USDA vet some time and fill out all the info for him so that he just has to verify the info and sign the form.  It would be pretty simple to just hand him the blank form and a blue pen, though, so I guess I'll do that, and hope his handwriting is legible (which is the main reason I wanted the info typed in the first place...no questions of whether that's a Z or a 2 in the microchip number, etc.).

Thanks for the clarification!

I filled out everything in blue ink (including vets address, etc) and the vet just signed it. Personally I don't think it makes a difference. If the vet signs off on it that is the equivalent of him saying that all is true, etc.

I filled out everything in blue ink (including vets address, etc) and the vet just signed it. Personally I don't think it makes a difference. If the vet signs off on it that is the equivalent of him saying that all is true, etc.

Yeah, the vet filling out all the information seems a bit pedantic, since really it's just whoever glances at the other paperwork and transposes the info.  Obviously if I were forging the vet's signature or something, that'd be another story, but I have no plans to do that.

At the moment, my EC 998 form is pretty bare anyway...the only info I have available to put on it are pet names, microchip numbers, microchip dates, and rabies vaccine dates.  Nothing else has been done yet, so I could just print out those things and then fill out the rest (rabies test info, other vet check stuff) by hand.

I mainly want to make sure that their identifying info is perfectly clear/legible/obvious, just to be on the safe side.

For what it's worth, I believe that the forms that exjerseygirl posted pictures of have the form filled out in black ink, and the form signed in blue ink.

I had some initial help from a woman called Sandy at VIP Pet Transport, and she told me to fill out absolutely everything in blue ink, not just the signatures.

Originally I had everything in black ink and then had the vet sign each section as we went in blue, but the VIP woman told me this was wrong and the whole of the EU 998 should be redone in all blue.

I even had the FAVN filled out in blue even though what you receive back is an official photocopy anyway, which comes out black and white but has the physical sticker on it.

I don't know whether this specialist woman was being "overkill" in her advice, but I just went ahead anyway and had myself and my vet just do everything in a blue pen, just to be on the safe side. May have been more than is needed, but I didn't want to take any chances.

Thanks.  I just realized (duh) that the program I'm using to add in the tet to the EU 998 form can add notes in color.

So I'll just set them up to all be blue, print it out, and hopefully it's a win all around.

For anyone else's future reference:  I spoke to the USDA about typing the forms (after my vet messed up filling it out!) and asked if I could type all the info and they said that was absoutely ok (no need to be in blue ink).  As long as the vet signs it in the signature, date and stamp box the rest can be typed.   

Also as far as the date format, the only dates that really matter if they are in dd/mm/yyyy are section V and section VII.  The rest can be in mm/dd/yyyy.

I have been searching everywhere for this "blue ink" info - I know this is from 2009, but thank you to everyone who contributed to this topic!  It's exactly what I needed.