Review a decision with new evidence

1. Understand your decision

A decision can cover several issues. Some may be granted, denied, or left undecided while VA gathers more information.

Read the date on the notice, the outcome for each issue, the reasons, favorable findings, and the review instructions. Find the specific issue you want reviewed.

Read the review instructions promptly. A deadline for a decided issue can run while another issue remains deferred.

Compare the review choices for the issue VA decided.

The illustrated letter uses fictional wording and an imaginary case. Your own VA notice controls.

A later increase for a condition that got worse is different from asking VA to review its earlier evaluation.

2. Compare review options

Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, and Board Appeal are alternatives. Their evidence rules differ.

Consider a Supplemental Claim when you have or can identify new and relevant evidence, or an applicable change in law. Compare the other choices before filing.

Higher-Level Review and most modernized Board Appeals ordinarily must be requested within one year of the decision notice. Contested claims and legacy appeals have different instructions.

If you choose Supplemental Claim, check its timing and evidence requirements.

For the same issue, VA generally does not allow two administrative review choices at once. Follow the official withdrawal or change instructions before switching a pending review.

A new service-connection theory for a previously decided condition can belong in a Supplemental Claim. It is not automatically a new initial claim.

If an already service-connected condition worsened later, look at an increased-disability claim. If you disagree with the earlier evaluation, a Supplemental Claim may still be an available review choice.

3. Understand timing

The ability to file and the effective date of a possible award are separate questions.

Check the notice date and review instructions. If an earlier effective date may matter, get help reviewing your filing history before relying on a date.

You can generally file a Supplemental Claim after more than one year. Filing within one year is important for ordinary continuous-pursuit rules. Do not use an intent to file as an extension of a Higher-Level Review deadline.

Identify the evidence or law change relevant to the issue.

Current VA instructions allow qualifying intent-to-file use with Supplemental Claims. Internal guidance says an intent filed within a year of a decision may maintain continuous pursuit when followed by a qualifying complete Supplemental Claim. The requirements and exceptions depend on the filing history.

For disability compensation, current VA instructions say that starting the official Supplemental application while signed in with an identity-verified account automatically notifies VA of an intent to file; a separate intent-to-file call or form is not needed for that flow. Automatic intent to file does not cover Supplemental applications for other benefit types. Read the current benefit-specific instructions and the court qualification below.

In August 2026, Hoffman v. Collins held that VA may not associate an already continuously pursued Supplemental Claim with an intent to file when that gives the claim no effective-date benefit. Older regulation and manual wording should not be read as a universal first-claim rule.

VA effective dates also depend on when entitlement arose and special rules, including some law changes and service-record cases. VetCore does not calculate a legal deadline, effective date, or payment date.

4. Identify evidence

New evidence was not previously in the record VA considered. Relevant evidence tends to prove or disprove something at issue; it can include a theory of entitlement VA did not previously address.

Submit the evidence you have, or identify the records you want VA to obtain. Give the source and treatment dates when identifying medical records.

Follow the response date and evidence instructions in any VA request. You do not need to wait for an examination before identifying available records.

Open the applicable forms and list the issues you want reviewed.

A substantially complete application can identify potentially new evidence. VA then considers whether evidence obtained is new and relevant, and separately whether the benefit should be granted.

If a law change now covers a previously denied presumptive condition, follow VA's law-change instructions. You still need to submit or identify evidence of the condition and meet the applicable service requirements.

A private Disability Benefits Questionnaire or purchased medical opinion is not a universal requirement. Do not invent symptoms, diagnoses, or a medical relationship.

5. Open the applicable forms

VA Form 20-0995 identifies the benefit, the issues you want reviewed, and the related decision dates.

Copy each issue and its decision date from your notice. Select one benefit type per form. Use conditional records-release forms only when they apply.

If VA identifies an incomplete application, follow its notice. Internal instructions generally allow 60 days after the notice to complete a Supplemental Claim while retaining the incomplete filing date.

Choose the official submission method for your benefit.

Use a separate form for each benefit type. Multiple issues within the same benefit type can be listed on that form.

Fictional annotated examples explain what a field asks. They do not supply personal answers or recommend what you should certify.

6. Submit through VA

Submit the review request and supporting information through VA.

For disability compensation, continue to VA's online Supplemental Claim application or use the current paper form and the compensation destination. For another benefit, use its applicable submission instructions.

Retain the submission date and the confirmation, receipt or mailing record.

Keep VA’s submitted-application confirmation or receipt notice, plus a copy of what you sent. A saved draft is not a submitted application.

Check official confirmation and respond if VA requests more information.

The online Supplemental Claim application currently accepts disability compensation only.

Use the destination shown for your selected benefit and filing method. To review another benefit’s address, change the benefit selection or open the form’s submission instructions.

Pension and survivor benefits have a different destination. Other benefit types may require program-specific instructions. A medical center and a regional benefits office are not interchangeable.

7. Know what happens next

VA checks the request, obtains evidence where its duty to assist applies, and decides whether the issue can be reviewed again and whether the benefit is warranted.

Use VA's status tool for actual information about your request. Respond to letters and attend an examination if VA schedules one. Read the new decision issue by issue.

Processing goals and historical averages are not promised decision or payment dates. Follow the dates in your actual notices.

After a Supplemental decision, applicable choices can include Higher-Level Review, Board Appeal, or another Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence.

Local preparation marks record what you marked. They are not VA claim status.

If you have more than one issue, a partial decision may resolve some while others remain deferred for development. Read the review instructions for each decided issue.

The eight public disability-claim statuses are an educational model. Decision reviews can have different status labels and procedures.