Best for
- ✓ The regional office keeps getting it wrong
- ✓ Complex legal questions — presumptions, effective dates, secondary chains
- ✓ You want a hearing in front of a judge to tell your story
Not for
- ✕ Simple new-evidence cases — Supplemental is faster
- ✕ Cases where you haven't tried Supplemental or HLR yet (sometimes — talk to a rep)
How it works
- 01File VA Form 10182 within 1 year.
- 02Pick a docket: Direct, Evidence, or Hearing.
- 03Direct = no new evidence, fastest. Evidence = 90-day window after filing to submit new evidence. Hearing = videoconference or central office hearing with a Veterans Law Judge.
- 04The Board issues a written decision — grant, deny, or remand back to the regional office.
Pro tips
- ▸ Don't pick the Hearing docket unless your testimony actually adds something a record can't.
- ▸ Get an accredited attorney or VSO before the Board — the legal nuance matters.
- ▸ If the Board remands, your case is still alive — keep your effective date.