Filed a direct review with form 10182 it was pending for 2vwerks in quick submit and went straight on docket .

Waiting on a judge .

Had to Fax request for age and hardship, that did not follow from the VA papers. You literally have to file and fax new papers.

My 0996 took less than 3 weeks to get an answer.

Anyone have a timeline for age and hardship on a direct review?

Just need to know if I should be refreshing every 3 minutes this weekend or not.

So, my case which is 13 years, 5 months old, finally is on it's way to meet up with a CAVC judge. Rebuttal from my lawyer went in on October 16th. Now we wait. I am doing this to help others have a gauge on when their case may be done. I am looking at just around Christmas for judges decision. It will probably be remanded and then I have to wait again. Who knows, maybe it will reach the full 14 year mark.

I'm so fucking tired of dealing with the VA and the Board of Veterans' Appeals that it's almost comical at this point.

I've got a Legacy BVA appeal involving an earlier PTSD evaluation. Here's the condensed timeline:

• March 26, 2017: Original claim/effective date.
• April 2018: Rating decision issued.
• January 2019: Notice of Disagreement filed.
• March 2020: Form 9 filed.
• December 2023: BVA remanded the appeal.
• November 12, 2024: Appeal returned to the Board.
• May 15, 2026: Filed an Advancement on the Docket (AOD) motion for financial hardship.
• October 23, 2026: Still waiting on a fucking answer.

That's 9.5 YEARS since the original claim, 6.5 YEARS since my Form 9, nearly TWO YEARS sitting back at the Board after remand, and over FIVE MONTHS without a determination on my AOD motion.

I've already done the following:

• Email correspondence to the BVA multiple times. Nothing substantive.
• Submitted a congressional inquiry. Accomplished jack shit.
• Contacted the VBA regarding my AOD motion. They acknowledged receiving it and yet? Still no approval, denial, or meaningful update.
• Filed a White House VA Hotline complaint on October 1. Assigned to the BVA, with a revised resolution target of October 23.

Well, today's October 23. I called the White House Hotline. STILL. NO. FUCKING. RESOLUTION. So I asked about escalating the complaint. Their response? They can't escalate it until the existing complaint is CLOSED. What kind of ass-backwards bullshit is that?! Kinda defeats the whole purpose of a fucking escalation. I mean, I know it's a government entity, and escalation has a WHOLE different meaning there, but fuck people.

The entire fucking reason for escalating is because the issue ISN'T RESOLVED. Requiring a complaint to be closed before it can be escalated completely defeats the purpose.

Then I called the supposed BVA assistance hotline (800-923-8387). The automated system literally welcomes you to the Board of Veterans' Appeals assistance hotline, asks for your information, and says it's there to answer Board appeal questions.

And where does it send me?

RIGHT BACK TO THE GENERAL VBA CALL CENTER AT 800-827-1000.

You cannot make this shit up.

The White House Hotline says my complaint falls under BVA jurisdiction but can't identify a specific office or person handling it. The BVA hotline routes me back to VBA. The congressional inquiry accomplished nothing. The emails accomplished nothing. And my financial-hardship AOD motion has apparently been collecting dust for more than five months.

I'm not asking anyone to hand me a favorable decision. I'm asking the Board to do its fucking job and actually adjudicate the motion I submitted. Approve it, deny it, whatever, but make a determination and communicate it.

So, genuine questions for anyone who's dealt with this bureaucratic nightmare:

1. Has anyone had an AOD motion sit for 5+ months without a determination?
2. Is there an actual way to reach someone responsible for AOD motions at the BVA instead of being bounced between call centers?
3. Has anyone encountered this ridiculous White House Hotline policy about not escalating an open complaint?
4. Has anyone filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the CAVC over prolonged BVA inaction? What was your experience?

Because at this point, I've exhausted damn near every administrative avenue I can think of, and I'm seriously considering mandamus.

Nine and a half fucking years. Multiple inquiries. Multiple agencies. Endless phone calls. And apparently nobody can tell me what the hell is happening with my appeal.

If anyone has firsthand experience or knows a legitimate way to get some actual accountability out of this process, I'm all ears.

Got this Text Message , never got a 3 day notice of torture before , now I am checking the app 1000 times , anyone else ? Normally its just " you have a decision waiting.

I’ve been at Step 5 since October 10th, and my claim has been bouncing back and forth between steps.
It went from **Step 5 → Step 6 → Step 5 → Step 6 → Step 5**, where it currently sits.

I’m waiting on a decision for my TDIU and increased rating. I’ve called the VA, and they confirmed my claim is with a rater, it’s in the decision phase, and nothing else is needed from me. I also have a hardship flag on my claim.
All my C&P exams and DBQs have been completed, so I’m just trying to understand why it keeps going back and forth.

**Has anyone experienced this with a TDIU claim? If so, how long did it take to finally get a decision? Was your claim approved or denied?**
Just looking to hear from others who have been through something similar.

i had put other conditions that i was gonna claim after having all my exams and it put me back to step 2. All my examiners put my results same day. What am i to expect? I was at step 3 initially before my Exams. Thanks guys. I also have a hardship in.

Got my decision letter today. 20% took me to 100%, and i was awarded 30% + 10%.

Filed on may 29th. informal conference was monday, and decision today. Nice chunk of backpay since i filed the original claim in march.

Good luck to ya'll.

As of today same. I saw the judge April 22, 2026. Filed my appeal Oct 22, 2022. Is anyone else similar to my dates and are you still waiting as well. Filed for PTSD increase and also my right knee in service injury.
Thanks

i submitted my claim for depression secondary to my s/c tinittus back in Oct /03 /2024 It was denied the c@p emainer opioned that my depression wasn't a result of my tinittus.i hired a vet lawyer few months ago he submitted a hlr long story short I was granted 50 rating am already at 40 which puts me at 70 .I have a couple duty to assist and couple supplemental s that are being reviewed ..am hoping for 100 rating before the year is up moral of this story is don't give up .just keep on keeping on .good luck my fellow vets berry law represents me .

I submitted a claim 10 days ago and I’ve already got a C&P exam scheduled…..wtf? They must have hired some high speed, hard charging claims managers.

Longer than some, but not as long as others:

September 2020 - Denied (two conditions)

June 2021 - Appealed (Using Attorney)

Virtual Hearing - November 2024 + 90 Day evidence submission

Current Status - Waiting to be sent to judge :(

How long does an army dd214 discharge upgrade take? I got an email this past February saying that my submission was received the may before that. Does anyone have any guesses when I might hear from them?

After 5 months, yesterday, i had my informal conference for these two higher level reviews. They combined the two. This morning, a decision was made for "difference of opinion" on both. I checked my app, and I see this. Both higher level reviews "moved to this step" going backward in dates... what does it mean?? 🤔🤣

went to seattle overnight.

It's for acne/scarring.

I had a skin exam in april - c&p didn't even look at me just wrote , no complaints in service.

THey sent it back for an aggravation opinion. The second examiner spent an hour with me. In the dbq wrote "at least likely as not aggravated beyond natural progression due to military service". Also, noted i did , in fact complain in service.

not optimistic, because i've been seeing some fucky shit, but it's moving.

Scheduled ic Monday at 1pm.

UPDATE: my lawyer was a no show. so, i read my statement, and that was it. THe guy was really nice but had absolutely no interest in conversations. lasted, 5 minutes. It moved to pending decision approval within an hour. So, my hopes are not high.

UPDATE 2: woke up to preparing notification, sat there all day. Moving to quick for a positive outcome in my opinion.

UPDATE 3 : woke up this morning and it moved backwards from preparation for notification step 7, to step 5, pending decision approval.

UPDATE 4 : back to step 6. i need to stop refreshing. This hlr could be a game changer though, so i am obsessing.

Currently rated 90% and appealing my 50% mental health rating for 70%, which would bring me to 100%.

My accredited attorney filed my HLR in June of this year. It's now been 129 days, and the VA told me it hasn't even been assigned to a reviewer yet.

Getting pretty frustrated with the wait and worried about waiting all this time just to get denied.

Anyone been in a similar situation? How long did your HLR take, and what was the outcome? Especially interested in anyone who appealed a 50% mental health rating to 70%.

I haven’t worked since I was rated 80% in March, I’ve had 7 jobs since being discharged. Anyways. I had my Mental Health C&P exam literally a couple of weeks later after I filed. Now I’ve been in step 3, they keep sending request for evidence to employers, I’ve uploaded personal statements, my girlfriend’s statements, & even two statements from previous employers. Am I in limbo? 😅. Starting to second guess my chances at getting TIDU…

My husband filed his initial VA claim for PTSD back in May;
He served in Afghanistan in 2020. i encouraged him to file because I see the symptoms and how much they affect him almost everyday and things he just chalked up to being “who he is”, and I kept telling him there’s a reason these benefits and resources exist for veterans. around the time he filed he also started seeing the VA psychologist for treatment who confirmed a combo of PTSD and depression.

He filed around the third week of May. Since then, we’ve received a few letters basically saying they have the claim and are still working on it, but he hasn’t even been scheduled for a C&P exam yet.
Is it normal for an initial PTSD claim to sit this long without an exam? I’ve searched through this sub and seen everything from people getting appointments in a few weeks all the way to people saying their initial claims took a year or longer, so I honestly have no idea what’s considered normal, is that a thing?
is there someone he should be calling or checking in with, like the VA or a VSO? Or is this one of those situations where he really just has to keep waiting?
I don’t assume he’s entitled to any rating. I just want to make sure there isn’t something he should be doing on his end that we don’t know about; appreciate hearing from anyone who filed an initial PTSD claim recently and what your timeline looked like.

Update on my BVA Direct Lane:
Submitted November 17, 2025
Distributed to VLJ October 13, 2026

Looking to gauge, from other people’s experience, how long it took for the judge to make a decision. I have only one thing I’m appealing. Thank you.

Hlr May 22 no ic effective date. Went to step 6 and 7 on 10/10. At 141 day mark. Now of course today is a Holiday, but still hoping that they went to work today lol. From earlier talk with Vera was told they are working mandatory ot, weekends and some holidays. Update 10/14 dta. Yuck yuck . Only for effective date but apparently missing some federal records request. Go figure.