File a first or new disability claim
Learn what VA needs, choose the right application, and keep your filing confirmation. You can begin an application before you have every record.
1. Understand what you are applying for
Disability compensation is a benefit for an illness or injury connected to qualifying military service. VA first decides whether the condition is service connected. It separately evaluates the condition's severity.
Identify the condition you want VA to consider and the service or service-connected condition you believe it relates to. Describe what you know; you do not need to assign your own diagnostic code or percentage.
Why this matters
A rating percentage answers a different question from whether a condition is connected to service.
You can learn about benefits and prepare records before filing.
Check the condition's claim history before choosing an application.
Different ways a condition may relate to service
A condition may have started during service, worsened because of service, or be caused or aggravated by an already service-connected condition. A qualifying presumption can establish the service relationship without proving an individual causal link; the condition and service requirements still matter.
National Guard and Reserve service
The type and dates of duty matter. Active duty for training can involve disease or injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty. Inactive duty training has narrower rules for injury, heart attack, cardiac arrest or stroke during that duty. Identify the duty period and relevant orders or line-of-duty records rather than assuming all service periods have the same rules.
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2. Choose the process that fits this issue
A condition VA has never decided, later worsening of an already rated condition, and disagreement with an earlier decision require different instructions.
Check whether VA has decided this condition before. Use the new-claim application for a first claim or a genuinely new issue; use the increase guide for later worsening. If you disagree with a prior decision, compare the review options.
Why this matters
Adding a different service-connection explanation for the same previously decided condition does not automatically make it a new initial claim.
Documents for this step
- VA Form 21-526EZ — Disability compensation application
Use the PDF for a paper disability-compensation application. The official online application includes its own questions.
Required for the stated circumstances - VA Form 20-0995 — Request a Supplemental Claim
A previously decided issue pursued through a Supplemental Claim
conditional
Read the prior decision notice before deciding whether to request review. Review timing differs from a new application.
Choose a filing-date option and start identifying records.
A claim or review is already pending
Check VA's actual status tool or your representative before submitting another request for the same issue. Sending evidence for a pending claim is different from requesting a new decision review.
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3. Understand filing-date options
The date VA recognizes can affect the potential start date of benefits. Starting an online compensation application and filing a paper intent-to-file form are different ways of recording an intention to apply.
For an online application, read VA's saving and completion instructions. If you plan to use a paper application and need time to prepare, read VA's intent-to-file instructions. Keep VA's confirmation.
Why this matters
An applicable filing-date step can affect a potential effective date. The requirements depend on the benefit and process.
Documents for this step
- VA Form 21-0966 — Intent to file a claim
A supported paper filing-date option; follow VA's benefit-specific instructions
optional
VA's current public instructions describe completing a saved online application within 365 days. Intent-to-file association and effective-date exceptions need their own guidance; these planning notes do not calculate an award date.
Gather records you have and identify records VA may need to request.
Leaving active duty
Use the pre-discharge guide and its filing window. An intent to file is not a required first step for every BDD claim and does not replace a complete application within the BDD window.
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4. Locate records and identify who holds them
Records may be held by the military, VA, another federal agency, or a private provider. Some inpatient and mental health records are maintained separately from routine service treatment records.
List the facility or custodian and treatment dates. Submit relevant copies you already have. Tell VA about records you need it to obtain, and authorize access to private records when appropriate.
Why this matters
A specific facility and date range help VA request the correct records. You do not have to wait for every possible document before opening the official application.
Documents for this step
- VA Form 21-4142 — Authorize a private-records request
You want VA to request relevant non-VA medical records and authorization is needed
conditional - VA Form 21-4142a — List private providers
Provider names, addresses, and treatment dates for that records request
conditional
Respond to the dates in VA's actual requests. Do not wait merely because a general evidence period is described.
Decide which supporting evidence answers the questions in your claim.
Copies for your own use
The military-records guide explains National Archives and service-department requests. VA says it will request a DD214 after receiving an application; an active-duty member should provide separation documents when they are issued.
Vet Center and VA-paid community care records
Vet Center counseling records are separately protected and can require consent even though they are federal records. VA-paid community care records already held by VA differ from records still held only by the private provider; follow any request for a release rather than assuming payment by VA makes every record immediately available.
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5. Add evidence that relates to your claim
Evidence can describe the condition, its relationship to service, and its current effects. A first-hand statement can explain an event or an observation; it should not invent a medical diagnosis or opinion.
Use relevant medical records, treatment dates, service information, and truthful statements. Explain what you or the witness personally saw, when it happened, and what changed.
Why this matters
Relevant evidence helps VA answer the issue in your claim. A large document pile is not itself proof.
Documents for this step
- VA Form 21-10210 — First-hand lay or witness statement
You or a witness wants to provide a lay statement; a truthful signed statement may also be submitted in another accepted format
optional - VA Form 21-0781 — Optional traumatic-event statement
Optional traumatic-event information for a claimed mental health condition, or a VA request; separate PDF is unnecessary when the equivalent optional questions were answered in the new-condition online application
conditional
Submit available supporting evidence with your application when practical. If VA requests more information, follow its instructions.
Choose an official filing method.
Private DBQs and medical opinions
A private Disability Benefits Questionnaire or medical opinion can be relevant in some cases. Neither is a universal requirement or a required purchase. VA may arrange an examination or obtain a medical opinion when needed.
Fictional first-hand example
A witness might describe: 'I worked alongside the applicant during that assignment. I saw the fall and helped them reach the clinic.' This illustrates first-hand information; it is not a statement to copy as a personal event.
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6. Choose standard or Fully Developed Claims instructions
These are filing approaches, not different disability benefits. Fully Developed Claims is optional.
Use standard instructions if VA needs a larger role in collecting evidence. Use Fully Developed Claims instructions only if you can meet that program’s evidence and certification requirements.
Why this matters
You should not certify that evidence is complete when more relevant non-federal evidence is still needed.
Neither approach promises your decision date. You can open the official application while identifying records.
Submit through an applicable official VA channel.
What VA can obtain
Both approaches can involve VA obtaining federal records and arranging necessary examinations. Identify where records are kept and supply authorization for private records when it applies.
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7. Submit through VA and keep confirmation
The official application asks for identifying information, the conditions claimed, service history and relevant records.
Continue to VA's online application or complete the current VA Form 21-526EZ and use the compensation submission instructions. Save the submitted application and the on-screen confirmation or receipt letter.
Why this matters
Preparation, opening an external page, uploading evidence, and actually submitting an application are separate actions.
Documents for this step
- Official disability-compensation online application
Complete the questions in VA’s application. A separate paper VA Form 21-526EZ is not required for this method.
Required for the stated circumstances - VA Form 21-526EZ — Disability compensation application
Use the PDF for a paper disability-compensation application. The official online application includes its own questions.
Required for the stated circumstances
Submit within the filing requirements that apply to your chosen process. A paper mailing date and VA receipt date are not interchangeable without the applicable rules.
Keep VA’s submitted-application confirmation or receipt notice, plus a copy of what you sent. A saved draft is not a submitted application.
Watch for VA's confirmation, information requests, and exam scheduling.
Standard or Fully Developed Claim
A standard claim lets VA take a larger role in obtaining evidence. The Fully Developed Claims program asks you to submit the available non-federal evidence and certify that no further evidence is needed, while VA can obtain federal records and arrange necessary exams. FDC is optional and does not promise a faster decision in an individual case.
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8. Respond to requests and examinations
VA may request records, ask for clarification, arrange an examination, or use an Acceptable Clinical Evidence records review. The exam provider supplies findings; VA decides the claim.
Keep contact information current, read each request and confirm examinations if VA schedules them. Ask the scheduling contact about accommodations. Send additional evidence through VA’s accepted submission channels.
Why this matters
A C&P exam gathers claim evidence and is not a treatment visit. Different conditions may be decided at different times; a deferred issue is still awaiting a decision.
Follow the actual request and appointment instructions. Processing stages can move back to evidence gathering; they do not each take the same amount of time.
Read the decision notice when VA issues it, including any partial decision.
Preparing for an exam
Confirm the time and location. Ask the scheduling contact about transport or other accommodations. Submit new non-VA records before the appointment when possible; bringing them to an examiner does not itself submit them to the claims file. Describe your actual symptoms and history without rehearsed answers or invented conclusions.
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9. Read the decision issue by issue
One notice may grant some issues, deny others, and defer issues needing more development.
Find the notice date, each issue, outcome, favorable findings, reasons, evaluation and effective date if applicable. Read the review instructions for the issues VA decided.
Why this matters
A deferred issue is not denied. Review instructions for decided issues can apply while development continues on other issues.
Documents for this step
- Your decision notice
Keep the notice and the underlying decision pages.
preparation
Official action:
Read VA decision review instructionsUse the instructions in the actual notice promptly. VetCore does not calculate your legal deadline.
Compare a review of the earlier decision with an increase for later worsening.