How Long Do I Have to Appeal a VA Decision?
One year from the date on the decision letter. That's the deadline for a Higher-Level Review or a Board appeal. It runs from the date VA put on the letter, not the day you received it.
Deadlines by route
- Higher-Level Review: within 1 year of the decision letter.
- Board appeal: within 1 year of the decision letter. After a Higher-Level Review or Supplemental Claim decision, a new one-year window opens to choose the next route.
- Supplemental Claim: no deadline, but filing within one year keeps your original effective date.
- Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims: 120 days from a Board decision.
Why the date matters for your money
If you stay in the review process without a gap, meaning each new review is filed within a year of the last decision (or 120 days for the Court), VA can pay you back to your original claim date. If you miss the window and file later, the effective date is usually the date of the new filing, and the earlier months are lost.
If the year has passed
- You can still file a Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence, with a newer effective date.
- If the old decision contained a clear and unmistakable error, you can ask VA to revise it at any time. That standard is demanding: the error must be obvious and must have changed the outcome.
- In limited cases VA can extend a deadline for good cause. Ask in writing and explain why you couldn't file in time.
How ClaimScope helps
The free Decision Check calculates your deadline from the decision date in seconds. Paid reviews show the deadline for every issue in your file and flag the ones closing soonest.
General information, not legal advice. Confirm the date on your own decision letter.
Primary sources
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ClaimScope organizes your VA decision, C-file, and medical evidence into issue-specific options, evidence gaps, forms, and back-pay estimates where the record supports one.
Educational information only—not legal or medical advice. Rules and outcomes depend on the record and procedural history. No benefit, rating, effective date, or payment is guaranteed. ClaimScope is independent of the Department of Veterans Affairs.