Independent guide · Not a law firm · Not the VA
Filing for disability compensation is paperwork, not a courtroom. This guide walks you through what to file, what evidence to gather, and how to get an accredited representative to do it with you — at no cost, which is how the law intends it.
Everything here points to official VA.gov pages and federally accredited organizations. No sign-up, no lead forms, nothing to buy.
Under federal law, no one may charge you a fee to prepare and file your initial claim for benefits. Accredited attorneys and claims agents may only charge a fee after VA has issued a decision and you are challenging it. Companies that advertise “we’ll get you a higher rating for five times your first increase” are generally not accredited, and that arrangement is not lawful.
Part one
Six stages, start to finish. Most claims take several months; the parts you control are the evidence you submit and the exams you attend.
This one-page notice tells VA you’re coming. Your effective date — the date your payments are calculated from — is set when VA receives it, and you get one year to complete the full application. If it takes you four months to track down records, you don’t lose four months of back pay.
Do it now: file online through VA.gov, call 800‑827‑1000, or mail VA Form 21-0966.
A Veterans Service Officer knows which conditions VA groups together, which secondary conditions you may be missing, and how a claim gets read on the other end. Their help is free, and appointing one costs you nothing in benefits.
Do it now: search VA’s accreditation directory, or walk into your county Veterans Service Office. See the free help section.
Nearly every granted service-connection claim rests on three things:
Presumptive conditions are the exception: for those, VA already accepts the link if you served in a qualifying place and time. See toxic exposure.
The main application. Online at VA.gov is fastest — it saves as you go, shows you what’s missing, and timestamps immediately. List every condition you’re claiming, including ones caused by another service-connected condition: a knee injury that wrecked the other knee, medication that damaged your stomach, depression that followed chronic pain.
Be specific about what you can’t do. “Back pain” says less than “cannot stand more than 15 minutes, missed 11 shifts last quarter, sleep interrupted nightly.”
VA will likely schedule a Compensation & Pension examination. It is not treatment and the examiner is not deciding your claim — they’re documenting severity for the rater. Describe your worst days, not the day you happen to feel fine. Missing this appointment without rescheduling is the most common self-inflicted denial.
The letter states each condition, the percentage assigned, the effective date, and the evidence VA considered. Those can be wrong independently — a grant at the wrong percentage or the wrong effective date is still worth challenging. You generally have one year from the date on that letter. See your three review options.
Part two
These are federally accredited organizations and government offices. Every one of them will prepare and file a claim with you at no charge.
Best first call
Most U.S. counties employ a VSO whose entire job is filing veterans’ claims. They’re local, they’re accredited, they’ll sit with you in person, and they tend to have the shortest wait for an appointment. Search “[your county] veterans service officer” or use the national directory.
Nationwide
Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion, AMVETS, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Military Order of the Purple Heart and others hold VA accreditation. You do not have to be a dues-paying member to be represented.
Direct
VA benefits staff will answer questions and help you file. Call 800‑827‑1000 on weekdays, use the chat on VA.gov, or visit a regional benefit office. There is never a charge.
Legal
For complex appeals, discharge upgrades, or character-of-discharge issues, veterans law clinics and nonprofits take cases without a fee.
Records
Lost your DD214 or need your service treatment records? The National Archives releases them to you and your next of kin at no cost.
To formally appoint an organization, you file VA Form 21-22. To appoint an individual attorney or accredited agent, it’s VA Form 21-22a. Both are in the forms table below, and your VSO will hand you one on day one.
Part three
Every link goes to the official form page on VA.gov, where you can file online or download the PDF. You will not need all of these.
Part four
An AI assistant that answers VA claim questions in plain language. Ask it what a term on your decision letter means, which form fits your situation, what to expect at a C&P exam, or how to word a statement.
Please don’t paste your Social Security number, full date of birth, or VA file number.
Ask anything about filing, evidence, exams, ratings, or appeals.
AI can be wrong. Verify anything important with VA or an accredited representative.
Part five
VA.gov shows your claim’s stage, any evidence request, and the decision once it is posted — usually before the letter reaches your mailbox.
Check claim statusIf VA requests evidence or a signature and hears nothing back, the claim gets decided on what’s already in the file — which usually means denied. Open every envelope.
Ongoing treatment records are the cleanest evidence there is. Gaps in care get read as gaps in severity, fairly or not.
A hospitalization, a new dependent, a condition that worsens, a move — each one can change what you’re owed. Dependents can be added once your combined rating reaches 30%.
Part six
A denial is not the end of the claim — it’s the start of the review process. You generally have one year from the date on the decision letter to pick one of three lanes. A VSO can tell you which one fits.
Form 20-0995
Use when you have new and relevant evidence — a nexus letter, records VA never saw, a new diagnosis.
A reviewer looks at the claim again with the new material, and VA has a duty to help you get it.
Form 20-0996
Use when you believe the decision was wrong on the evidence already submitted. No new evidence allowed.
A senior reviewer takes a fresh look. You can request an informal conference to explain the error by phone.
Form 10182
Use when you want a Veterans Law Judge to decide. Three dockets: direct review, evidence submission, or a hearing.
The most thorough option and the slowest. This is the stage where an accredited attorney may lawfully charge a fee.
Full explanation on VA.gov: Decision reviews and appeals
Part seven
The PACT Act expanded the list of conditions VA presumes are connected to service. If your condition is on the list and you served in a covered location and period, you don’t have to prove the medical link yourself — a substantial shortcut.
Gulf War and post-9/11 service in covered locations. Includes many respiratory conditions and cancers.
Vietnam, Thailand, the Korean DMZ, and additional locations added by the PACT Act.
30 or more days at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River between August 1953 and December 1987.
Atmospheric nuclear testing, occupation duty at Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and certain cleanup missions.
Veterans enrolled in VA health care can also get a free toxic exposure screening. Ask for it at your next appointment.
Read the PACT Act page on VA.govPart eight
No — and for an initial claim, no one may charge you for filing help anyway. An accredited VSO handles first-time claims every day at no cost. Attorneys become relevant at the appeal stage, after a decision has been issued.
No. VA disability compensation is not a fixed pool and it is not welfare. It is compensation for a loss of earning capacity caused by your service. Claiming what you’re owed takes nothing from anyone else.
It varies widely with complexity and evidence, and VA publishes current average processing times on VA.gov. Complete evidence at the start is the biggest factor you control.
Yes. You can claim new conditions, claim conditions secondary to ones already service-connected, or request an increase if something has worsened. All of it runs through Form 21-526EZ. Be aware that asking for an increase invites a re-evaluation of that condition.
Not automatically. VA makes a separate “character of discharge” determination, and discharge upgrades are possible — particularly where PTSD, TBI, military sexual trauma, or sexual orientation played a role. Talk to a veterans legal clinic.