Board of Veterans' Appeals

The Board of Veterans Appeals (often referred to as the BVA or simply the Board) is an administrative tribunal within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), located in Washington, D.C. It determines whether U.S. military veterans are entitled to claimed veterans' benefits. The Board's mission is to conduct hearings and decide appeals properly before the Board in a timely manner. 38 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 7101 (a). The Board's jurisdiction extends to all questions in matters involving a decision by the Secretary under a law that affects a provision of benefits by the Secretary to Veterans, their dependents, or their Survivors. 38 U.S.C. §§ 551(a); 7104(a). Final decision on such appeals are made by the Board based on the entire record in the proceedings and upon consideration of all evidence and applicable provisions of law and regulation. The Board's review is de novo.

The Board is headed by a Chairman. The Chairman is nominated by the President and confirmed by Congress. The Chairman position has been vacant since 2010.

In Fiscal Year 2015, the Board issued 55,713 decisions for Veterans and their families, which is the highest number of decisions issued by the Board since the 1988 enactment of the Veterans' Judicial Review Act (VJRA), which established the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). Additionally, the Board held 12,738 hearings.

The appeals process in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA of the Department) is a complex, non-linear process, which is set in law and is unique from other standard appeals processes across the Federal and judicial systems. A feature of the current VA appeals process is a continuous open record that allows a Veteran, Survivor, or other appellant to submit new evidence and/or make new argument at any point from the beginning to the end of the appeals process. Additionally, the duty to assist throughout the appeals process requires VA to develop further evidence on the Veteran's behalf and pursue new argument and theories of entitlement. Each time arguments are presented and evidence is added/ obtained, VA generally must issue another decision considering that evidence, which protracts the timeline for appellate resolution.

In Fiscal Year 2015, the Board received and docketed 69,957 appeals and anticipated the docketing of 88,183 claims in the 2016 fiscal year. The Board's cycle time, which measures the average time from the date an appeal is certified to the Board (VA Form 9) until a decision is dispatched was 160 days in Fiscal Year 2015 (excluding the time the case is with a Veterans Service Organization (VSO), such as Disabled American Veterans (DAV), American Legion (AL), or Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for review and submission of written argument).

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