Claim Raven explanation
What this means
This docket permits the existing agency-decision record and evidence submitted with the Board appeal or within 90 days after VA receives it. A separate provision addresses certain later approved changes into this docket.
The window is tied to the filing or applicable docket-change notice, not simply any time before the Board decides the case. A report's medical date and its submission date are different facts.
How this helps your claim
Plan the submission around the actual evidence window and keep delivery confirmation. If the appeal moved dockets, use the Board's notice to identify the correct starting event.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Confirm the Evidence Submission election or approved docket change.
- Identify the filing or notice date that starts the evidence period.
- Compare delivery receipts with the applicable 90-day window.
Keep the Board filing receipt as the timing reference
The Evidence Submission docket generally uses the appeal's receipt to establish the additional evidence period. A medical report can concern an older event while still being newly submitted evidence. Record both dates rather than assuming the report's subject determines its admissibility.
If entry into this docket followed an approved change, read the specific notice and applicable rule for that situation. The same generic calendar calculation may not apply. Keep all docket-change correspondence with the evidence receipts to make the actual sequence clear.
Can evidence be added at any point before the Board decision?
No. This docket has a defined window, not an open-ended period lasting until decision. Evidence can be important yet fall outside the permitted record. Understanding that distinction helps separate a timing issue from the medical value of the document itself.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 20.303
eCFR snapshot: September 3, 2026. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 20.303 Rule 303. Appeals with no request for a Board hearing, but with a request for submission of additional evidence.
For appeals in which the appellant requested, on the Notice of Disagreement, an opportunity to submit additional evidence without a Board hearing, the Board's decision will be based on a review of the following:
(a) Evidence of record at the time of the agency of original jurisdiction's decision on the issue or issues on appeal; and
(b) Evidence submitted by the appellant or his or her representative:
(1) With the Notice of Disagreement or within 90 days following receipt of the Notice of Disagreement; or,
(2) If the appellant did not request an opportunity to submit additional evidence on the Notice of Disagreement, but subsequently requested to submit additional evidence pursuant to Rule 202 (§ 20.202(c)(2)(ii)), within 90 days following VA's notice that the appeal has been moved to the docket described in § 20.800(a)(ii).
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7105, 7107, 7113(c))
[84 FR 182, Jan. 18, 2019; 84 FR 34788, July 19, 2019]
Related references
- 38 CFR § 20.202: Choosing a Board Appeal Docket
- 38 CFR § 20.800: Board Docket Order and Advancement Requests
- 38 USC § 7105: Filing a Board Appeal
- 38 CFR § 3.2400: Modernized and Legacy VA Appeals Explained
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
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