You have one year from the decision date to act and keep your effective date. Three lanes. Pick based on what you have.
Lane 1 · VA Form 20-0995
Supplemental claim
You have new and relevant evidence: a nexus letter, new diagnosis, missed records. VA has a duty to assist in gathering it. The workhorse lane; most denials die here for lack of one document.
Best when: evidence was missing
Lane 2 · VA Form 20-0996
Higher-Level Review
A senior reviewer re-reads the same file, with no new evidence allowed. Request an informal conference to point out the error yourself. Fast when the VA misapplied its own criteria.
Best when: the evidence was there, the rater got it wrong
Lane 3 · VA Form 10182
Board appeal
A Veterans Law Judge decides. Three dockets: direct review, new evidence, or a hearing. Slowest lane, strongest for complex or credibility-driven cases.
Best when: the issue needs a judge
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Lanes can be sequenced. Lose an HLR? Go supplemental with new evidence. Decisions past the one-year mark aren't dead either, a supplemental claim can reopen them, and clear-and-unmistakable-error (CUE) motions can fix old final decisions with the original effective date.
Decision letter audit
0 of 6 checked
When the rating decision arrives, check it line by line before celebrating or appealing, raters make correctable mistakes constantly.