Board of Veterans' Appeals
The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) is an administrative tribunal within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), located in Washington, D.C. Established by Executive Order on July 28, 1933, it determines whether U.S. military veterans are entitled to claimed veterans' benefits and services. The Board's mission is to conduct hearings and decide appeals properly before the Board in a timely manner. 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. 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.
Department Seal | |
Board of Veterans Affairs logo | |
2021 Veterans Law Judges | |
| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | July 21, 1930 (Cabinet rank 15 March 1989) |
| Type | Appellate review board for decisions made by VA agencies, on behalf of the Secretary |
| Jurisdiction | United States federal government |
| Status | Active |
| Headquarters | Veteran Affairs Building 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Employees | 108 Veterans Law Judges 850 Attorney-advisers Non-attorney staff: unknown |
| Annual budget | FY 2022: $228 million FY 2023: $285 million FY 2024: $287 million (requested) |
| Agency executives |
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| Parent department | Department of Veterans Affairs |
| Website | www |
In Fiscal Year 2022, the Board issued 95,294 decisions. This was down from the record of 102,663 decisions set in 2020, which had previously surpassed the records set in FY 2018 and 2019. This is in part, due to the number of increased Board hearings in 2022 – 30,089 which is an increase from 15,669 in 2020 when hearings were severely curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Board began to focus more on holding hearings than issuing decisions by increasing the number of judges who held hearings over the number who issued decisions. This, in turn, increased the wait times for Board decisions on average by 6 additional months across all Board dockets – with the hearing docket faring the worst, doubling from 377 days in 2020 to nearly 700 days by the end of 2022. Wait times are projected to get worse through 2023 and 2024, with the implementation of both the passage of the PACT Act, and of Board review of Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) cases, pursuant to an order issued by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Beaudette v. McDonough, 34 Vet.App. 95 (CAVC April 19, 2021).