These five steps are yours. You use the official sites. This product does not sign in for you. We do not download your records. We do not file your claim.
Official sources last reviewed 2026-10-05. We organize and educate. We do not file.
VA says you sign in with an ID.me or Login.gov account. You create that account yourself on VA’s sign-in page. We do not create it. We do not sign in for you.
Getting an account is your choice. If you skip it, VA says you can still manage benefits and health care by phone, by mail, or in person. You still need an account to do that online. Follow VA’s page if these words and that page disagree.
You’ll need to use an ID.me or Login.gov account to sign in to all VA websites and apps—like VA.gov and the VA: Health and Benefits mobile app.
VA’s creating-an-account page.
To create a new account, go to our VA.gov sign-in page. Then select Create an account with Login.gov or Create an account with ID.me.
The same VA page. The buttons are on the sign-in page.
It’s always your choice whether you want to get an account. Your choice won’t affect your eligibility for VA benefits or health care in any way.
The same VA page.
Open VA’s page about creating an account.
Go to the VA.gov sign-in page. Select Create an account with Login.gov or Create an account with ID.me.
Follow VA’s step-by-step page for the account you pick. You finish identity checks there. We do not.
You file this notice on VA.gov. We do not file it. VA sometimes calls the notice an intent to file. If you start the disability claim online, VA says you do not need a separate notice.
If you are not starting the online claim yet, you can submit the notice yourself. After you file it, you have one year to finish the rest of the claim. This page does not promise a payment or an earlier start date.
If you file for disability compensation online, then you don’t need to notify us of your intent to file.
VA’s how-to-file page.
After you notify us of your intent to file, you have 1 year to complete and file your claim.
VA’s intent-to-file page.
Read VA’s intent-to-file page before you choose.
To file the notice online, open Submit an intent to file. You sign in. You send it. We do not.
On paper, open VA Form 21-0966. You fill it out. You send it. We do not fill it in.
You request and download these yourself. VA clinic records, service medical records, and the Official Military Personnel File are different papers. This product does not sign in to VA or the National Archives. We do not download the files.
A private clinic or hospital is separate too. Ask that office for a copy. Use that office’s own request. This page does not name a private website. The claims file, often called a C-file, is also a different request.
Find, review, print, and download your VA medical records in the new My HealtheVet experience on VA.gov.
VA’s Review medical records online page. That is the new My HealtheVet experience on VA.gov.
You can request your military service records online using the National Archives’ eVetRecs tool.
VA’s military service records page.
When you get to eVetRecs, select Make a new request.
The same VA page. eVetRecs is the National Archives tool.
All private medical records related to the claimed condition, like reports from your own doctor or X-rays or other test results from a non-VA hospital or other treatment center
VA’s fully developed claim page, private records.
If you’ve seen a non-VA healthcare provider for diagnosis or treatment, you’ll need to upload copies of all medical records that can provide information about the disability you’re claiming.
VA’s upload-evidence page, private treatment records.
VA clinic records: open Review medical records online. Sign in yourself. Download the parts you need. A self-entered report is only what you typed into the older My HealtheVet. It is not the notes your VA care team wrote.
A full copy from the VA facility where you got care: message the Release of Information office, or fill out VA Form 10-5345a and send it yourself. VA’s page says how long a copy can take.
Official Military Personnel File and service medical records: open eVetRecs and select Make a new request, or mail or fax Standard Form 180. VA’s form page sends you to the National Archives for that form. Use the chart on the form for the address. We do not send it.
If you left the Air Force after October 1, 2004, the Army after October 1, 2002, the Marines after January 1, 1999, or the Navy after January 1, 1995, VA says you can also use milConnect. You need your own account.
Private records: ask the office that treated you. If you want VA to ask that office, you fill out VA Form 21-4142 and you send it.
A statement is your own words, or the words of someone who saw what happened. You write them. We do not write them. We do not invent a symptom, a date, or a story.
VA publishes two forms for this. You open the form. You fill it out. You send it. We do not fill it in. We do not send it.
letters from family members, friends, clergy members, law enforcement personnel, or those you served with
VA’s fully developed claim page.
Your own statement can go on VA Form 21-4138, Statement in Support of Claim.
A witness statement can go on VA Form 21-10210, Lay/Witness Statement.
Write only what that person knows. Leave out anything you cannot stand behind.
A fully developed claim is VA’s name for a claim you send with the records and statements you already have. You file it on VA.gov. We do not file it. We do not upload it.
VA also has a page for adding evidence after a claim is already filed. Read the warning below before you add more. This page does not promise a rating or a payment.
We’ll remove your disability claim from the Fully Developed Claims program and process it as a standard claim.
VA’s upload-evidence page. This is what happens if you add more after you already sent a fully developed claim.
To send the claim online, open File for disability compensation online. You sign in. You submit it. We do not.
You can also mail VA Form 21-526EZ. You fill it out. You send it to the address on VA’s how-to-file page.
If the claim is already filed and you still have papers to add, use VA’s upload-evidence page. If the claim was a fully developed claim, VA says adding more takes it out of that program.