GETTING STARTED WITH A VA CLAIM

EVIDENCE NEEDED FOR YOUR DISABILITY CLAIM

What evidence does VA need to support my disability claim?

Evidence is needed that shows that both of these descriptions are true:

  • You have a current physical or mental disability (damage to your body or mind that makes you less able—or totally unable—to do everyday tasks, including meaningful work), and
  • An event, injury, or illness happened while you were serving in the military to cause this disability

what documents do i need to support my claim?

You’ll need to submit or give us permission to gather these:

  • Your DD214 or other separation documents
  • Your service treatment records
  • Any medical evidence related to your illness or injury (like doctor’s reports, X-rays, and medical test results)

Note: In 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis destroyed records held for Veterans who were discharged from the Army and Air Force during certain periods of time. If your records were destroyed in this fire, you can get help reconstructing them.

Find out how to reconstruct your records

evidence to support my original claim

You’ll need to submit evidence of:

  • A current physical or mental disability from a medical professional or layperson (someone who’s not a trained professional), and
  • An event, injury, or disease that happened during your active-duty service, and
  • A link between your current disability and the event, injury, or disease that happened during your service. Usually we need medical records or medical opinions from health care providers to support this link.

In certain situations, we may conclude that there’s a link between your military service and your disability even if there’s no evidence. This usually applies to:

increased claim

You’ll need to submit current evidence from a medical professional or layperson (someone who’s not a trained professional) that shows your disability has gotten worse.

new claim

You’ll need to submit evidence of:

  • A current physical or mental disability from a medical professional or layperson (someone who’s not a trained professional), and
  • An event, injury, or disease that happened during your active-duty service, and
  • A link between your current disability and the event, injury, or disease that happened during your service. Usually, we need medical records or medical opinions from health care providers to support this link.

SECONDARY SERVICE-CONNECTED CLAIM

You’ll need to submit evidence of:

  • The new physical or mental disability from a medical professional or layperson (someone who’s not a trained professional), and
  • A link between the new disability and the disability we’ve already determined is service connected. Usually we need medical records or medical opinions from health care providers to support this link.

SUPPLEMENTAL CLAIM

If you have new and relevant evidence to support your denied claim

You’ll need to submit new and relevant evidence that you think will change our decision:

  • New evidence is information you didn’t submit to us in the past.
  • Relevant evidence is information that proves or disproves something in your claim.

We can also help you gather documents from a VA medical center, other federal facility, or your private health care provider. You’ll need to provide the name of the facility that treated you and the treatment dates.

If you have a presumptive condition now covered because of a change in law

You’ll need to submit or identify these types of evidence: 

  • Medical records that show the diagnosis and severity of your claimed condition, and
  • Military records that show you meet the service requirements for the presumption

If you have qualifying military service for a presumptive condition, you don’t need to prove that your service caused the condition. We automatically assume (or “presume”) that your service caused your condition. 

Learn more about presumptive conditions based on exposure to toxic materials:

Learn more about different types of presumptive conditions:

Learn more about Supplemental Claims