Compare decision review choices
Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review and Board Appeal are alternatives with different evidence rules.
Supplemental Claim
Submit or identify new and relevant evidence, or request review under an applicable change in law.
Can generally be filed at any time after a decision. Filing within one year matters for ordinary continuous-pursuit rules and potential effective dates.
After its decision: an applicable Higher-Level Review, Board Appeal, or another Supplemental Claim.
Read Supplemental Claim guidanceOfficial references
Higher-Level Review
An experienced reviewer reexamines the existing record for an error or difference of opinion. You cannot add new evidence.
Ordinarily within one year of the date on the initial or Supplemental decision notice. An intent to file does not extend this deadline.
If VA identifies a prior duty-to-assist error, it gathers the missing evidence and decides the issue. After an HLR decision, applicable choices include Supplemental Claim or Board Appeal, not another HLR of the same HLR decision.
Read Higher-Level Review guidanceOfficial references
Board Appeal
Choose Direct Review, Evidence Submission, or Hearing. Each has its own evidence rules.
Most modernized appeals ordinarily within one year of the decision notice. Contested claims generally have a 60-day period; legacy opt-in and extension situations need their own instructions.
After a Board decision, applicable options include a Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence or an appeal to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. A Court Appeal is filed with the Court, ordinarily within 120 days, not mailed to VA.
Read Board Appeal guidance