VA Disability Forms

You can download VA disability forms by selecting the appropriate link below.  These forms are free and provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

If you wish to file a claim for benefits, you will find the forms to get started and will be able to download from this list of VA forms online.

Suppose the VA recently denied your claim for disability benefits. In that case, you can download one of the documents in the below list for either a supplemental claim, a higher-level review claim, or a decision review request. You are invited to contact us if you have questions about the forms or your claim.

VA Form 21-526EZ – Veteran’s Application for Compensation and/or Pension 

Used for new and increase VA claims, the 21-526EZ is the initial form you should use for any claim that has never been filed before.  This form should be used to apply for VA disability compensation (pay) and related benefits.

VA Form 20-0995 – Supplemental Claim Form

VA Form 20-0995 requests a SUPPLEMENTAL CLAIM of a previous decision with which you disagree. A SUPPLEMENTAL CLAIM is a new review of an issue(s) previously decided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) based on submitting new and relevant evidence.

VA Form 21-0996 – Higher Level Review

VA Form 20-0996 requests a Higher-Level Review (HLR) of the decision you received by the Department of Veterans Affairs.  You may not submit any further evidence for this review.  It is normally best to request a Higher Level Review when you know the VA made a mistake in their decision.

VA Form 10182 – Decision Review Request : Board Appeal

A VA Form 10182 is the documentation to submit a board level review.  These options can take 1-5 years to for decision.  There are three lanes that can be chosen:

  • Direct Review from a Veterans Law Judge (Box 10A)
  • Evidence Submission Reviewed by a Veterans Law Judge (Box 10B)
  • Hearing with a Veterans Law Judge (Box 10C)

Standard Form 180 – Request Pertaining to Military Records 

Use the Standard Form 180 (SF-180), to request information from military records. Identifying information is important to determine the location of your military service record. Answer each item on the SF-180. If you cannot obtain the data for an item, show “NA,” meaning the report is unavailable. Include as much of the information as you can.
Mail this request to the record locations and facility addresses as shown on Page 2 of the SF-180 Online.

VA Form 5655 – Financial Status Report 

Submit a VA Form 5655 – Financial Status Report when requesting any of these debt relief or repayment options:

  • Repayment plan of over 5 years
  • Compromise offer
  • Waiver
  • Relief of VA Healthcare copays

VA Form 21-4142 – Authorization and Consent to Release Information to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

The VA Form 21-4142 releases information so that the VA may receive information as outlined on the associated VA Form 21-4142a. Therefore, when providing these VA disability forms, the veteran should submit the 21-4142 & 21-4142a.

These VA disability forms authorize:

  • ALL medical sources (hospitals, clinics, labs, physicians, psychologists, etc.) and VA health care facilities,
  • Social workers/rehabilitation counselors,
  • Compensation and Pension (C&P) Examiners used by VA,
  • Employers, workers’ compensation programs, insurance companies

and 

  • Others who may know about the veteran’s condition (neighbors, family members, work acquaintances, neighbors, friends, and public officials)

VA Form 21-0845 – Authorization to Disclose Personal Information to a Third Party

The VA Form 21-0845 authorizes the VA to share your personal information with a non-VA organization or individual.

VA Form 3288 – Request for Consent to Release Information from Individual’s Records 

VA Form 3288 authorizes the VA to share the veteran’s records to anyone listed within the form.  This includes the veteran him/herself.  This is a form the veteran may use to obtain their C-file.

VA Form 21-686c – Declaration of Status of Dependents

VA Form 21-686c submits a claim for to have dependents added, removed or adjusted for your dependent benefits.

VA Form 21-8940 – TDIU

The VA Form 21-8940 is used to claim compensation benefits based on unemployability.

To file a claim for TDIU, one of the following conditions must be true:

  • Must have one service-connected disability rated with a 60% or higher disability rating

-or-

  • The applicant has two or more service-connected disabilities rated (One of the two must be rated 40% or higher) with a combined rating of 70% or higher.

-and-

  • The veteran is unable to hold a financially supporting and steady job (known as substantially gainful employment) due to service-connected disabilities. Odd jobs do not count.

Completing this VA disability forms means you are claiming total disability because of a service-connected disability preventing you from securing or following any substantially gainful occupation. Answer all questions fully and accurately. Mailing information may be found on the form (page 4).

VA Form 21-4192 – Request for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability Benefits 

The VA Form 21-4192 should be used when filing for a TDIU claim. File this amongst other VA disability forms to gather information about a veterans employment information.  The VA Disability Forms are normally used for TDIU.

To obtain VA DBQ Forms, please see our Disability Benefits Questionnaire Page.

There is a full list and explanation available for all of the publically available DBQs (VA Disability Forms for Doctors to fill out.) available on our page.

Key Takeaways

  • Ensure you use the correct VA disability form for what you are attempting to accomplish
  • Understand all the forms and what forms you need to submit
  • Reach out to the Blue Cord Patriots with any questions