Under the direct review docket, a judge will review the entire record contained in your claims folder up until the date of the VA decision with which you disagree with. Any evidence received after the date of the decision cannot be considered by the Board. This option is appropriate if you believe the VA had everything it needed at the time to make a decision favorable to you. This option is often the fastest. However, if important evidence comes in after the fact, the Judge can’t consider it.

Under this option, you have 90 days from the submission of your appeal to the Board to submit any new evidence you believe supports your appeal. This can include statements from you, your spouse, medical records, or a private nexus opinion. This option is “in the middle”, in-between a direct docket and a hearing docket.

This appeal option allows you and witnesses to directly speak with and testify to a Veterans Law Judge. Following the hearing, you can have up to 90 days to submit any new evidence. The judge will then consider the entire record and make a decision on your appeal. This option comes with advantages, such as an opportunity to ask a Judge point blank “what am I missing to get the green light”. Judges are also required by law to suggest what evidence you should submit to help your claim. On the other hand, the hearing docket can be among the longest wait times.

Yes! Under the AMA, you do have the right to file a supplemental claim after a Board decision has been issued. This will preserve your backpay as well.

Yes. Congress allows the Board to expedite your appeal under certain circumstances. This is referred to as Advanced on the Docket (AOD). When your case is AOD, it cuts the wait time from years to months.

To have your appeal considered for an AOD status, you must submit a Motion (request) in writing to the Board with supportive evidence. Examples of sufficient cause include:

• Severe financial hardship (bankruptcy petition, home foreclosure notice, statement that the individual is experiencing homelessness);

• Serious illness (physician’s statement);

• Advanced age (defined as 75 years or more);

• Administrative error resulting in a significant delay in docketing your appeal; and

• Unusual hardship due to a natural disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake, or flood (personal statements regarding the impact of the natural disaster, newspaper clippings, pictures, FEMA declarations, etc.).

• Note: Veterans often see “administrative error” and think this means the VA has wrongly decided their appeal and they qualify for AOD. This is incorrect. To quality under this rule, the error must have resulted in a significant delay in the docketing of your appeal, not that the VA wrongly decided your appeal.

If you want to appeal a final Board decision, you have three options. You can appeal the decision within 120 days directly to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
This option best serves Veterans when the Board made a clear error in their decision, or failed to adequately explain the reasoning in their decision.
The second option, which applies only to AMA appeals, is to file a Supplemental Claim, introducing as new evidence the elements of your appeal the Board found to be missing, such as obtaining your own private nexus opinion.
As a third option, you may file a Motion for Reconsideration with the Board.