VA Form 28-1900 starts an application for Veteran Readiness and Employment, usually called VR&E or Chapter 31. The application leads to an eligibility review and, when appropriate, an evaluation with a counselor. It does not approve a degree program or training plan by itself.

Download the current VA Form 28-1900 PDF

Use the official VA Form 28-1900 PDF, linked from VA's form page.

Edition discrepancy: On October 2, 2026, the downloadable PDF printed DEC 2026 on all three pages, while the form page listed December 2025. I checked the actual PDF, including its visible footer. December 2026 is a future date at this verification date, and I could not establish why VA's sources disagree. This walkthrough follows the fields in that current official download, not an assumed correction to its date.

The application has three sections. Section I contains Items 1 through 10; Section II has a privacy acknowledgment; Section III contains signature Items 11A and 11B. Page 3 gives application and reactivation instructions.

At a glance:

  • Purpose: Apply for VR&E benefits and services connected to employment or independent-living needs.
  • Veteran eligibility to apply: VA's eligibility page lists a service-connected rating of at least 10% and no dishonorable discharge.
  • Next step: A Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor determines entitlement.
  • Mail destination: The VR&E Intake Center, PO Box 5210, in Janesville.
  • Previously decided case: Read the reactivation instructions before submitting another 28-1900.

Who files, and when?

VA's eligibility guidance distinguishes eligibility to apply from entitlement to particular services. A qualifying rating gets you to an evaluation; the counselor examines how your service-connected disability affects suitable employment and what services fit your circumstances.

VR&E can include employment counseling, job training, help finding or keeping suitable work, education when appropriate, and independent-living services. The relevant question is how your disability affects your ability to prepare for, obtain or maintain suitable employment. A preferred school or credential is only part of that discussion.

VA's current eligibility page says veterans discharged on or after January 1, 2013 do not have the 12-year basic eligibility limit. For earlier discharges, it describes a 12-year period measured from the later of the stated separation-notice date or first service-connected rating notice, with a possible extension for a serious employment handicap.

The PDF's page 3 instead names September 11, 2013 and summarizes the starting point differently. Because these official sources conflict, use the linked eligibility page for VA's current public explanation and ask VR&E to resolve any deadline question affecting your case. Do not rule yourself out from one sentence in the PDF.

Service members without a service-connected rating have a separate route. VA's application guidance directs them to Form 28-0588 and explains qualifying circumstances, including the disability evaluation process. Check that guidance rather than inventing a rating to complete an application.

Section I: claimant information, Items 1 through 4

Item 1 asks for your first name, middle initial and last name. The claimant is the person applying for rehabilitation benefits, not the counselor or family member helping type the form.

Item 2 asks for your Social Security number. Item 3 asks for a VA file number only if it differs from Item 2. Item 4 asks for your birth date in month-day-year format.

Check the identifiers against your own records. A service number, Social Security number and VA file number are not interchangeable labels. Leave the VA date-stamp area alone.

Section I: contact information, Items 5 through 9

Item 5: Mailing address. Include the street, apartment or unit, city, state or province, country and postal code. The form specifically says an existing VA.gov profile address must match the form's address to avoid processing delays. Review both when you have recently moved.

If you have no mailing address, the form tells you to write None. Page 3 says lack of a mailing address does not itself mean denial, but you should provide another way to reach you, such as a shelter address, PO Box or telephone number, so VA can schedule an initial evaluation.

Item 6: Main telephone number. Include the area code, use the international field if applicable, or select None if you have no available number.

Item 7: Cell phone number. This is separate from the main telephone field and also has a None box. Answer for your actual contact situation.

Item 8: Email address. Enter an address you check. The adjacent checkbox is a separate agreement to receive electronic correspondence about the claim. Read it rather than treating it as punctuation after the email field.

Item 9: Upcoming move. Give your new address if you are moving within the next 30 days. Do not replace Item 5 with a future address while leaving VA to guess when it becomes usable.

Section I: education, Item 10

Item 10 asks for the number of years of education. It does not ask you to request a degree, describe a disability or write a career statement.

Use your education history to answer the field. Keep transcripts or other details available for the counselor's later questions. If nontraditional education makes the number unclear, ask VR&E how to report it rather than converting credentials into an unsupported number.

This short application has no numbered field for a detailed employment history or a requested training budget. You can prepare those facts for the evaluation without trying to squeeze them into an unrelated box.

Section II: acknowledge the privacy statement

Read the Protection of Privacy Information Statement and check its acknowledgment box when you have read it. This section explains why VA requests information during vocational and educational planning and how withholding needed information can affect services.

Page 3 says that if you do not check the acknowledgment, you will be required to sign a separate VA Form 28-8739a. Completing the acknowledgment on the application avoids leaving that specific step unfinished.

The checkbox is not the application signature. Both the acknowledgment and Section III need your attention.

Section III: certification, Items 11A and 11B

Read the certification that your information is true and complete to the best of your knowledge and belief. Sign 11A and enter the actual signing date in 11B using month-day-year format.

Check both application pages before submitting. A complete first page with an unsigned second page is not a completed signed application. Save page 3's instructions with your copy so you can refer to them later.

Fictional example: applying before a move

This is a fictional form exercise. It contains no real person's name, contact information or experience.

Assume a veteran with a service-connected rating is applying for VR&E for the first time. The veteran has completed 14 years of education and plans to move in 20 days. The veteran wants to discuss work that fits documented physical limitations.

  • Items 1 through 4: The veteran's own identifiers.
  • Item 5: The current mailing address, checked against the VA.gov profile.
  • Items 6 and 7: Available telephone numbers, or the applicable None selection.
  • Item 8: The veteran's email and their chosen correspondence consent.
  • Item 9: The planned new address because the move falls within 30 days.
  • Item 10: 14, based on the assumed education history.
  • Section II: The acknowledgment after reading the statement.
  • Items 11A and 11B: The veteran's signature and signing date.

The veteran separately prepares a work history and examples of tasks affected by the disability. Those notes support the later conversation; they are not invented answers to additional 28-1900 fields. Nothing in this example establishes entitlement to a particular school, occupation or service.

Where to submit the application

VA's how-to-apply page lists these routes:

  • Online: Follow its link to apply for VR&E on VA.gov.
  • Mail: Department of Veterans Affairs, VR&E Intake Center, PO Box 5210, Janesville, WI 53547-5210.
  • In person: Get help from a VA employee at a regional office.
  • With a representative: Work with an accredited attorney, claims agent or VSO representative.

The current PDF and the national application page do not give a fax number for a first 28-1900 application, so apply online or by mail. VA's intake instructions list 844-531-7818 (248-524-4260 from outside the U.S.) for VR&E correspondence, which fits documents you send after you have applied.

Keep the application and submission confirmation. The email printed for paperwork-burden comments is not an application inbox; page 3 expressly says not to send the completed form there.

What happens after you apply?

VA reviews basic eligibility and sends the appropriate notification. If eligible, the next stage includes an initial evaluation with a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, or VRC. VA explains that the counselor evaluates employment barriers and, after an entitlement decision, works with you on a rehabilitation plan.

Prepare a clear account of your work and education, what you can do, and which job tasks your service-connected disability affects. Concrete descriptions help you explain the problem you want services to address. Do not assume an application receipt means tuition or a chosen program has been authorized.

Claim Raven's Resume Raven can help you explore civilian occupations and turn your actual military and civilian experience into career materials. Public career discovery is open to explore; account features have their own access requirements. Start with an occupation you want to discuss with your counselor and check how its tasks fit your abilities.

A closed VR&E case needs the review route

The current PDF says not to use 28-1900 to reapply after an entitlement decision. Page 3 directs veterans whose cases were closed as discontinued or rehabilitated toward review of that closure.

It lists 20-0995 for a Supplemental Claim, 20-0996 for Higher-Level Review and 10182 for a Board appeal when within one year of the closure decision. For the described closures more than one year old, it directs a Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence. If a review is already pending, it says to wait for that decision.

Read the actual closure notice with an accredited representative if you are unsure which situation applies. Claim Raven's 21-22 and 21-22a guide explains how the appointment forms work.

Final checks and sources

Check the address match, upcoming-move field, education entry, privacy acknowledgment, signature and date. Confirm whether this is an initial application or a previously decided case before choosing the form.

Verified October 2, 2026: the official form listing, all three PDF pages, VA's eligibility and application guidance, and linked Claim Raven pages. The printed edition date and eligibility-period wording conflict with VA's web pages as described above. The reasons for those differences and a national 28-1900 fax number remain unverified. The example is fictional.

Where to go next

Claim Raven is data analysis, not legal, medical, or VA-accredited advice. A VA counselor decides VR&E entitlement and works with you on any approved rehabilitation plan.

-Landon Founder, Claim Raven | U.S. Army Veteran