38 C.F.R. Subpart D—Filing
Title 38 - Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief
The Notice of Disagreement and Substantive Appeal must be filed with the Department of Veterans Affairs office from which the claimant received notice of the determination being appealed unless notice has been received that the applicable Department of Veterans Affairs records have been transferred to another Department of Veterans Affairs office. In that case, the Notice of Disagreement or Substantive Appeal must be filed with the Department of Veterans Affairs office which has assumed jurisdiction over the applicable records. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7105 (b)(1), (d)(3)) (a) Persons authorized. A Notice of Disagreement and/or a Substantive Appeal may be filed by a claimant personally, or by his or her representative if a proper Power of Attorney or declaration of representation, as applicable, is on record or accompanies such Notice of Disagreement or Substantive Appeal. (b) Claimant rated incompetent by Department of Veterans Affairs or under disability and unable to file. If an appeal is not filed by a person listed in paragraph (a) of this section, and the claimant is rated incompetent by the Department of Veterans Affairs or has a physical, mental, or legal disability which prevents the filing of an appeal on his or her own behalf, a Notice of Disagreement and a Substantive Appeal may be filed by a fiduciary appointed to manage the claimant's affairs by the Department of Veterans Affairs or a court, or by a person acting as next friend if the appointed fiduciary fails to take needed action or no fiduciary has been appointed. (c) Claimant under disability and able to file. Notwithstanding the fact that a fiduciary may have been appointed for a claimant, an appeal filed by a claimant will be accepted. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7105(b)(2)) (a) Notice of Disagreement. Except in the case of simultaneously contested claims, a claimant, or his or her representative, must file a Notice of Disagreement with a determination by the agency of original jurisdiction within one year from the date that that agency mails notice of the determination to him or her. Otherwise, that determination will become final. The date of mailing the letter of notification of the determination will be presumed to be the same as the date of that letter for purposes of determining whether an appeal has been timely filed. (b) Substantive Appeal—(1) General. Except in the case of simultaneously contested claims, a Substantive Appeal must be filed within 60 days from the date that the agency of original jurisdiction mails the Statement of the Case to the appellant, or within the remainder of the 1-year period from the date of mailing of the notification of the determination being appealed, whichever period ends later. The date of mailing of the Statement of the Case will be presumed to be the same as the date of the Statement of the Case and the date of mailing the letter of notification of the determination will be presumed to be the same as the date of that letter for purposes of determining whether an appeal has been timely filed. (2) Special rule in certain cases where additional evidence is submitted. Except in the case of simultaneously contested claims, if (i) a claimant submits additional evidence within 1 year of the date of mailing of the notification of the determination being appealed, and (ii) that evidence requires, in accordance with §19.31 of this title, that the claimant be furnished a Supplemental Statement of the Case, then the time to submit a Substantive Appeal shall end not sooner than 60 days after such Supplemental Statement of the Case is mailed to the appellant, even if the 60-day period extends beyond the expiration of the 1-year appeal period. (c) Response to Supplemental Statement of the Case. Where a Supplemental Statement of the Case is furnished, a period of 60 days from the date of mailing of the Supplemental Statement of the Case will be allowed for response. The date of mailing of the Supplemental Statement of the Case will be presumed to be the same as the date of the Supplemental Statement of the Case for purposes of determining whether a response has been timely filed. Provided a Substantive Appeal has been timely filed in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section, the response to a Supplemental Statement of the Case is optional and is not required for the perfection of an appeal. [57 FR 4109, Feb. 3, 1992; as amended at 66 FR 50318, Oct. 3, 2001; 68 FR 64806, Nov. 17, 2003] An extension of the 60-day period for filing a Substantive Appeal, or the 60-day period for responding to a Supplemental Statement of the Case when such a response is required, may be granted for good cause. A request for such an extension must be in writing and must be made prior to expiration of the time limit for filing the Substantive Appeal or the response to the Supplemental Statement of the Case. The request for extension must be filed with the Department of Veterans Affairs office from which the claimant received notice of the determination being appealed, unless notice has been received that the applicable records have been transferred to another Department of Veterans Affairs office. A denial of a request for extension may be appealed to the Board. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7105(d)(3)) Except as provided in Rule 302(b) (§20.302(b) of this part), the filing of additional evidence after receipt of notice of an adverse determination does not extend the time limit for initiating or completing an appeal from that determination. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7105.) [57 FR 4109, Feb. 3, 1992; as amended at 66 FR 50318, Oct. 3, 2001] (a) Acceptance of postmark date. When these Rules require that any written document be filed within a specified period of time, a response postmarked prior to expiration of the applicable time limit will be accepted as having been timely filed. In the event that the postmark is not of record, the postmark date will be presumed to be five days prior to the date of receipt of the document by the Department of Veterans Affairs. In calculating this 5-day period, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays will be excluded. (b) Computation of time limit. In computing the time limit for filing a written document, the first day of the specified period will be excluded and the last day included. Where the time limit would expire on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the next succeeding workday will be included in the computation. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7105) For the purpose of Rule 305 (§20.305 of this part), the legal holidays, in addition to any other day appointed as a holiday by the President or the Congress of the United States, are as follows: New Year's Day—January 1; Inauguration Day—January 20 of every fourth year or, if the 20th falls on a Sunday, the next succeeding day selected for public observance of the inauguration; Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.—Third Monday in January; Washington's Birthday—Third Monday in February; Memorial Day—Last Monday in May; Independence Day—July 4; Labor Day—First Monday in September; Columbus Day—Second Monday in October; Veterans Day—November 11; Thanksgiving Day—Fourth Thursday in November; and Christmas Day—December 25. When a holiday occurs on a Saturday, the Friday immediately before is the legal public holiday. When a holiday occurs on a Sunday, the Monday immediately after is the legal public holiday. (Authority: 5 U.S.C. 6103)
Title 38: Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief
PART 20—BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS: RULES OF PRACTICE
Subpart D—Filing
§ 20.300 Rule 300. Place of filing Notice of Disagreement and Substantive Appeal.
§ 20.301 Rule 301. Who can file an appeal.
§ 20.302 Rule 302. Time limit for filing Notice of Disagreement, Substantive Appeal, and response to Supplemental Statement of the Case.
§ 20.303 Rule 303. Extension of time for filing Substantive Appeal and response to Supplemental Statement of the Case.
§ 20.304 Rule 304. Filing additional evidence does not extend time limit for appeal.
§ 20.305 Rule 305. Computation of time limit for filing.
§ 20.306 Rule 306. Legal holidays.
§§ 20.307-20.399 [Reserved]
