Serving → transition → after service

VA claims along your career

Build an accurate record while you serve. Choose the filing route that fits your situation, then follow the claim through its decision.

Along your career

Health coverage and VA next steps

Guidance follows your saved profile and checklist. These prompts do not determine eligibility.

Loading your career context. Review your profile or browse the guides below.

VA claim guide Health coverage What changed

Before discharge: check the BDD route

Benefits Delivery at Discharge generally requires 180–90 days remaining on active duty, a known separation date, current-period service treatment records and the Separation Health Assessment Part A. You must be available for exams for 45 days after applying. Other exclusions apply; timing alone does not establish eligibility.

Inside 90 days, you can still file before discharge through the applicable standard process. Missing BDD does not eliminate the ability to claim. A BDD submission does not guarantee a completed rating by separation day.

VA BDD eligibility and exclusions ↗ · Record your BDD step in the checklist →

Protect a potential filing date

An Intent to File may establish an earlier potential effective date if the complete claim follows within one year. It does not guarantee the award or its date. Confirm what VA received, when it expires and which benefit it covers.

Current VA instructions include Supplemental Claims and automatic intents from eligible online disability applications started with an identity-verified account. A decision-review deadline is a separate clock: do not treat an intent as a completed review request or assume it preserves continuous pursuit.

VA instructions updated August 17, 2026 ↗ · Record the confirmation step →

Choose the evidence route

Explore a claim type. This selection does not change your profile or file a claim.

Claim route

First / direct claim

Map the current disability, qualifying service event and connection between them. Identify medical and service records plus witnesses with first-hand knowledge.

Use the evidence notice for the claim. A private nexus letter is not required in every case.

Official requirements ↗

Build an evidence inventory

Give each claimed issue its own evidence trail: the fact to establish, the document supporting it, and any gap. Note the date and page so someone else can find it. Keep submitted copies and receipt confirmations.

Download a blank inventory and symptom log to complete privately. The website does not request your medical documents, claim number or SSN.

Read the full evidence and filing guide →

Condition evidence guide

These preparation guides explain what records and observations help describe an issue. They do not diagnose a condition, assign a rating or replace the full current criteria. Sources checked September 5, 2026.

Condition guide

Back and spine

Spine criteria: 38 CFR 4.71a

The examination distinguishes measured motion, pain, repeated use, flare-ups, neurological findings and functional loss.

Treatment, imaging and therapy records with dates
Flare frequency, duration and what you cannot do during one
Separate observations about weakness, numbness or radiating pain

Record how long you can sit, stand or lift before needing to stop, and whether that changes during a flare. Do not estimate an angle or force a painful movement for a target rating.

Official DBQ (PDF) ↗Current rating criteria ↗

VA decoder ring

Find a term

10 terms shown

Service connection: VA has linked a disability to qualifying service under an applicable route. It is separate from how severe the disability is.
What to inspect: Look for which claim element was accepted or disputed.
Nexus: The connection between a current condition and service, or between two conditions. An opinion needs an explained basis; a phrase alone is not proof.
What to inspect: Identify the records and reasoning supporting the relationship.
DBQ: A clinician's structured examination report. Public availability and examiner qualifications vary; VA can still request an examination.
What to inspect: Use the current questionnaire and confirm who can complete it.
Favorable finding: A finding in your decision that accepts a material fact. It can narrow what remains disputed.
What to inspect: List accepted facts separately from the reasons for denial.
New and relevant evidence: Evidence not previously considered that tends to prove or disprove an issue in the claim.
What to inspect: Connect each new document to a reason given in the prior decision.
Deferred: VA has not finished deciding that issue. Other issues in the same claim may already have decisions.
What to inspect: Check outstanding exams or evidence requests; do not treat it as a denial.
Effective date: The date assigned to an award under the applicable rules. An Intent to File may preserve a potential date; the payment start can differ.
What to inspect: Compare the decision with receipt dates, separation timing and review history.
0% service connected: The condition is service connected but does not produce a compensable evaluation under the applicable criteria.
What to inspect: Keep the decision; a future increase requires evidence of worsening.
Combined rating: VA combines ratings using its remaining-efficiency method rather than adding percentages.
What to inspect: Use the combined-rating explanation and check bilateral-factor eligibility.
P&T / TDIU: Permanent and total status concerns permanence and total disability; TDIU concerns payment at the total rate based on unemployability. They are not interchangeable.
What to inspect: Read the actual findings and any benefit-specific eligibility requirements.

Verify with VA decision-review guidance, the DBQ directory, and your decision letter. How combined ratings work →

Deployment records and presumptions

Keep orders, locations, dates and relevant occupational or exposure records. Compare them with the requirements for the specific condition. The PACT Act includes chronic sinusitis and rhinitis among covered presumptive illnesses for qualifying service; it is not a universal presumption for every deployment-related diagnosis. VA health-care eligibility and compensation are separate decisions.

Official conditions and service requirements ↗ · Review your exposure-record step →

Prepare for the exam

Describe today's symptoms and the longer pattern: typical functioning, flare-ups, frequency, duration, treatment and effects on work or daily life. Explain differences between your recollection and a record rather than trying to make every answer match. Follow the appointment instructions and keep prescribed treatment unchanged unless your clinician directs otherwise.

If you notice an exam error, document the specific issue and contact VA or your representative promptly. A pending claim and a decided claim have different next steps; a Supplemental Claim is not the automatic response to every exam problem.

VA claim-exam guidance ↗ · Open the exam checklist step →

Read the decision issue by issue

Separate granted, denied and deferred issues. For each decided issue, record favorable findings, the stated reason, evaluation and effective date. Use the decoder to identify the question your next document or review needs to address.

Supplemental Claim: submit or identify new and relevant evidence, or review an applicable change in law.
Higher-Level Review: ask for review of the existing record; you cannot add new evidence in this lane.
Board Appeal: choose the appropriate docket, which determines hearing and evidence options.

The decision notice controls the applicable deadline. Many compensation reviews have a one-year period relevant to preserving an earlier date; exceptions exist. Do not wait for an evidence worksheet or an Intent to File to resolve that deadline.

VA review options ↗ · Detailed decision-review guide · Open your review checklist step →

Bring your questions to accredited help

An accredited VSO representative can help without charging for representation. Verify accreditation and discuss evidence gaps, deadlines and any fees before hiring an attorney or claims agent. This page is preparation guidance, not representation or a rating prediction.

Find VA-accredited help ↗ · Check verified updates →