File it yourself, start to finish

The effective date of an award is the date VA received the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. That is the general rule at 38 CFR 3.400, and it is why the first date on a file matters more than most people expect. An intent to file puts that date on the record the day VA hears from you, before you have gathered a single document.

Three methods count under 38 CFR 3.155(b)(1): a saved electronic application inside VA's claims submission tool, a written intent on the prescribed form, and an oral intent given to designated VA personnel and recorded in writing. In practice that is online, by phone on 800-827-1000, in person, or by mail. VA's own wording on the clock is short: "After you notify us of your intent to file, you have 1 year to complete and file your claim." You can have only one active intent to file at a time, and a separate one is needed for each benefit type.

One thing that goes under-reported. On its how-to-file page VA says, "If you file for disability compensation online, then you don't need to notify us of your intent to file." The same page says, "We'll recognize the date you started your application as your date of claim as long as you complete it within 365 days." That is the date of claim, which is not the same thing as the effective date. It also does not carry across to DIC or to non-disability supplemental claims, which still need the form.

There is no trick to this stage. It is request letters and waiting. The claim is decided on what sits in the file, so the work is getting the right documents into it and knowing which ones are already there.

Private treatment records need your authorization before VA can ask for them, and that is VA Form 21-4142, with VA Form 21-4142a carrying the providers and dates. Sending the authorization is not the same as the records arriving. VA asks, and the provider answers on its own schedule. A veteran who also orders a copy for themselves has one in hand either way.

Your own account of what you live with goes on VA Form 21-4138, Statement in Support of Claim, revised July 2024. An account from somebody else who saw it goes somewhere else entirely: VA now steers lay and witness statements to VA Form 21-10210. Two forms, two purposes, and they are not interchangeable.

The claims file itself can be requested. VA Form 20-10206 is the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act request, and it is how a veteran gets a copy of what VA holds. Evidence also does not all have to arrive on day one. In VA's words, "you have up to a year from the date we receive your claim to turn in any evidence".

The application is VA Form 21-526EZ. It asks what you are claiming, when it started, and what evidence exists for it. Filling it in carefully takes an afternoon, and there is no version of this that takes less.

The date matters twice over. VA recognizes the date you started the application as your date of claim, in VA's own words, "as long as you complete it within 365 days". So a half-finished online application is holding a date. An abandoned one is holding nothing.

Keep a copy of everything that went in, and write down the day it went. That date is the one VA answers against, and it is the first line on the printed pack for a reason.

This stage is VA's move rather than yours. The claim status tracker shows where a claim sits, in eight named stages: claim received, initial review, evidence gathering, evidence review, rating, preparing decision letter, final review, and claim decided. Stage three is the one VA itself flags as "usually the longest step in the process". Stage seven is a senior reviewer reading the claim and the decision letter before it goes out.

Here is the part worth the chapter. The tracker goes backwards, and that is normal. VA states it three separate times on the same page: "If we need more evidence or you submit more evidence, your claim will go back to Step 3: Evidence gathering." Somebody watching stage six fall back to stage three reasonably concludes something broke. Nothing broke. New paper arrived and it has to be read.

If you find a list somewhere using names like "under review", "pending decision approval" or "preparation for notification", that list is out of date. Same eight steps, older labels.

VA publishes an average completion time on that same page and refreshes it monthly. The figure for July 2026 was 68.6 days.

Not everybody gets one. VA asks for a claim exam "only if we need more information to decide your claim". An exam letter means VA wants more information. No exam letter means it does not.

Either a VA provider or a VA contract provider does the exam. VA uses contractors "so that we can process your claim more quickly", and says its contractors "follow the same medical training and licensing standards as our VA providers". The name on the appointment letter may not be VA's.

The examiner is not the decision maker. VA is direct about it: they "can't answer questions about the claims process, tell you the exam results, or make decisions about your claim". What happens next is that "the provider will write up an exam report and send it to us", and VA reviews everything in the file, the report included, before deciding.

It is also not a medical appointment in the ordinary sense. The provider "won't treat you for any illness or injury, give you referrals to other providers, or prescribe medicine". Anyone arriving expecting care will leave without any.

The report can be had, but not on the day. VA: "You'll need to request a copy of the final exam report. You can't get the results at your exam or directly from the provider." That request is VA Form 20-10206. If the appointment has to move, tell them at least 48 hours ahead. With a contract provider it can be rescheduled once per exam, and the new appointment has to fall within 5 days of the original.

Missing it without good cause splits two ways under 38 CFR 3.655. Where the exam was scheduled in connection with an original compensation claim, "the claim shall be rated based on the evidence of record". Where it was scheduled in connection with any other original claim, a supplemental claim for a benefit previously disallowed, or a claim for increase, "the claim shall be denied". The regulation gives illness or hospitalization of the claimant, and the death of an immediate family member, as examples of good cause.

The letter is the document. VA says a decision on a disability claim comes with the disability rating, the amount of the monthly payments, and the date the payments start. Reading the first paragraph and stopping is how the rest of it gets missed.

Each issue is answered on its own. One letter can grant one thing and deny another. That is required by law, at 38 U.S.C. 5104(b), and the law also says what else the notice has to contain: the issues decided, a summary of the evidence considered, a summary of the law applied, and any findings in your favor. Where something was denied, it has to name the elements that were not met. That last part is the useful part. A denial paragraph naming the missing element is telling you what the record lacked.

The letter carries a date. Every review window in the next chapter is counted from it. Separately, 38 CFR 3.400 sets the effective date of an award as the date VA received the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later, which is the rule the intent-to-file chapter turns on.

If the reasoning does not match what you believed was in the file, the file is checkable. VA Form 20-10206 requests it. That is a records request and nothing more; it challenges nothing and starts no clock.

Three lanes, and you pick one. They are not steps in a sequence, and nothing requires starting at the bottom and working up.

A supplemental claim, VA Form 20-0995, is the lane that takes new evidence. VA's standard is new and relevant: "New evidence is information we haven't considered before. Relevant evidence is information that proves or disproves something in your claim." On timing, VA says "you can file a Supplemental Claim at any time, but we recommend that you file within 1 year from the date on your decision letter to keep your effective date".

A higher-level review, VA Form 20-0996, runs the other way. "You can't submit new evidence with a Higher-Level Review." A senior reviewer looks at the same file and decides whether an error or a difference of opinion changes the decision. One informal conference is available per review, and it is optional: it is not a hearing, no new evidence is allowed at it, and the reviewer makes 2 contact attempts before going ahead without one. The window is one year. This lane is closed after a previous higher-level review or Board appeal on the same issue.

A Board appeal, VA Form 10182, goes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals and splits into three dockets, each with a published Board goal. Direct review takes no new evidence and no hearing, goal 365 days. Evidence submission takes new evidence with the request or within 90 days of it, goal 550 days. Hearing takes new evidence at the hearing or within 90 days after it, goal 730 days. The window is one year, or 60 days for contested claims, and two Board appeals in a row on the same claim are not allowed.

All three replaced an older structure on February 19, 2019, when the Appeals Modernization Act took effect at 38 CFR 19.2(a). The system before it ran on a notice of disagreement, a statement of the case, and a substantive appeal on VA Form 9. Most of what is written online still describes that older system. If a page you are reading tells you to file a VA Form 9, it is describing something that ended in 2019.