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Find out what happens in the VA claim process after you file your disability claim. Learn about the steps in the VA disability claim process and how long it takes on average to get your VA disability rating.
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The VA claim process after you file your claim

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Learn about the VA claim process and what happens after you file your claim. Find out how long it takes, on average, to process a VA disability claim.

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Q&A Section

Q&A

How long does it take VA to make a decision?

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110.0 days
Additional information

Average number of days to complete disability-related claims in December 2022

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The amount of time it takes to review your VA disability claim depends on:

  • The type of claim you filed
  • How many injuries or disabilities you claimed and how complex they are
  • How long it takes us to collect the evidence needed to decide your claim
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Q&A

What should I do while I wait?

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You don’t need to do anything unless we send you a letter asking for more information. If we schedule any exams for you, be sure not to miss them. You can check the status of your claim online. The timeline you see there may vary based on how complex your claim is.

Track the status of your claim

Q&A

What happens after I file a VA disability claim?

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Steps

  1. Claim received

    We’ll let you know when we receive your VA disability claim.

    • If you file your claim online, you’ll get an on-screen message from us after you submit the form.
    • If you mail your application, we’ll send you a letter to let you know we have your claim. You should get this letter about one week, plus mailing time, after we receive your claim.

  2. Initial review

    We'll review your claim. It’ll move to step 3 if we don’t need any more evidence to support it.

  3. Evidence gathering, review, and decision

    During this step, we'll do 3 things:

    • Ask for evidence from you, health care providers, governmental agencies, or others
    • Review the evidence
    • Make a decision

    If we need more evidence during the review, your claim may return to this step more than once.

  4. Preparation for notification

    We’ll get your entire claim decision packet ready to be mailed.

  5. Claim complete

    We’ll send you a packet by U.S. mail that includes details of the decision on your claim. Please allow 7 to 10 business days for your packet to arrive before contacting a VA call center.

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What should I do if I disagree with your decision on my VA disability claim?

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If you disagree with a claim decision that you received on or after February 19, 2019, you can ask us to review the decision. You have 3 decision review options to choose from. 
Learn about your decision review options

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More information about disability ratings and payments

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Effective date of disability
Find out when you’ll start getting your disability payments.
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What to expect after you get a disability rating
Find out what happens after you get your decision notice with your rating.