How to Request Your C&P Exam Report from VA

The examiner cannot give you the report. Request it from VA with Form 20-10206 or through your representative, then track each missing opinion or addendum.

You get a compensation and pension (C&P) exam report from VA, not from the examiner. VA's claim exam page says the examiner sends the report to VA and cannot give you results at the exam, so you request a copy with VA Form 20-10206, a Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act request. Two other routes can be faster in the right situation: an accredited representative you have appointed can ask VA for a copy, and if a VA medical center examiner did your exam, the report may show up in My HealtheVet's Blue Button.

Three ways to get the report

Route	How it works	When it fits
VA Form 20-10206	Submit it online, by mail, or in person at a VA regional office. The mailing address VA lists is Department of Veterans Affairs, Evidence Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.	Any exam, whether a VA examiner or a VA contractor did it.
Your accredited representative	If you appointed a Veterans Service Organization (VSO) with VA Form 21-22, that form authorizes VA to release your records to the organization. Ask your representative for a copy of the exam report.	You already have a VSO representative, attorney or claims agent working your claim.
My HealtheVet Blue Button	VHA Directive 6370 says a C&P report written by a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) examiner is not released through Blue Button until 20 business days after the report is completed.	Only exams done by a VA medical center examiner. The directive does not cover contract examiners, so use Form 20-10206 if a contractor did your exam.

Accredited VSO help is free. If you do not have a representative, Claim Raven's VSO directory lists offices by state, and VA's representative page explains how to appoint one.

Ask for the exact report

Write down the exam date, the condition or issue examined, and whether VA or a contractor scheduled it. If you had more than one exam, list each one. Ask for the final C&P exam report for those dates, including any Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ), separate medical opinion and addendum. A focused request for one exam is narrower than a request for your whole claims file (C-file); Claim Raven's help-center guide to Form 20-10206 covers the broader C-file request.

A VA health-record download and a benefits-record request are different systems. The guide to getting VA medical records explains which request reaches which record. As of September 23, 2026, VA's Form 20-10206 page lists an August 2023 revision.

Requesting a record does not challenge a decision, add evidence to a pending claim, or extend a review deadline. If a decision letter has already arrived, keep its deadline on your calendar while the request is pending.

Keep a request and follow-up record

Copy this table for each exam. Leave a field blank until you can verify it.

Field	Your entry
Condition or issue examined
Exam date and location
VA examiner or contractor
Records requested: DBQ, opinion, addendum, other
Route used (20-10206 online, mail, in person, representative, Blue Button)
Date submitted and confirmation or tracking number
Date a response arrived and what it contained
Report, opinion or addendum still missing

Fictional example: Mara had a back exam on April 8 and a separate medical opinion dated April 16. She asked for both, saved the online confirmation, and marked the opinion as still missing when only the DBQ arrived. Her follow-up names that one opinion by date instead of repeating a request for "my file."

When you follow up, use your confirmation and the exam details. VA's claim status FAQ says the online tool does not show documents sent by mail, fax or in person, so an empty Files tab does not prove VA lacks the report.

When the report arrives

Check that the name, issue, exam date, DBQ and any separate opinion or addendum match your request. Then read what the examiner recorded against your own notes and the decision letter, if one has issued. Read it closely: in Claim Raven's analysis of 2024 to 2025 Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions, the Board found the VA exam inadequate in 38,115 condition records. Those are already-disputed appeals, so the figure shows how often exam quality becomes an issue at the Board, not how often exams are wrong. The examiner-specialty analysis breaks the pattern down by type of examiner.

If you find a wrong fact, a missing symptom or an opinion you disagree with, the C&P report errors guide shows how to document each one and which VA route fits.

Sources and scope

Checked September 23, 2026: VA's claim exam page (report route and Evidence Intake Center address), the Form 20-10206 page (August 2023 revision), VA Form 21-22 (July 2023 revision, records-release authorization), VHA Directive 6370 (Blue Button release after 20 business days for VHA examiner reports), and the claim status FAQ. VA can change routes and forms; confirm the current page before you mail anything. Mara is fictional.