The Board of Veterans' Appeals reviews benefit claims determinations made by local VA offices and issue decisions on appeals. Any aspect of any decision made by VA on a benefit claim--disability, healthcare, and cemetery--can be appealed for any reason. A veteran has one year to appeal a determination with which he or she is dissatisfied. To express such dissatisfaction, a veteran must submit a notice of disagreement (NOD) to the local VA office. After the office reviews the NOD and issues a statement of the case (SOC). After receiving the SOC, a veteran has 60 days to file VA Form 9 to request a hearing before the Board. Note: after receiving a determination, a veteran may ask that a decision review officer to review his or her claim. This request may be made before, after, in lieu of, or in conjunction with filing a notice of disagreement.
Hearings before the Board take place either in-person or via video teleconferencing. In-person hearings occur either at the Board's offices in Washington, D.C. or in a veterans' local VA office (to which the Board member, or Veterans Law Judge, travels). Hearings are informal and non-adversarial, and a veteran may have a representative accompany him or her to the hearing. The Board accepts new evidence from a veteran at any time in the process, and the Board has a duty to gather evidence newly identified or discovered by a veteran; however, it must usually remand the case to the local VA office should new evidence be presented that can influence the appeal.