Claim Raven explanation
What this means
VA can request a reexamination to verify a disability's continued existence or severity. This rule describes when future examinations are generally scheduled and circumstances where periodic reexaminations ordinarily are not requested.
Static conditions, sustained findings, age, and the likelihood of improvement can be relevant under the specific provisions. These are guidelines with limits; a familiar rule about age or a static condition should not be treated as a reason to ignore a scheduled examination.
How this helps your claim
Review the rating decision and code sheet to understand whether VA planned a future examination. If the basis seems inconsistent with the condition's history, gather the records that show stability or permanence and raise that specific issue.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Check the code sheet for a future examination date or static-disability notation.
- Compare recent findings with the condition's longer medical history.
- Preserve examination notices and evidence supporting any request to clarify or change the examination requirement.
Read why a new examination was requested
A reexamination may concern a condition's current severity or continued existence. That purpose is different from deciding whether the original award was correct. Check the scheduling notice and any correspondence explaining the issue VA is reviewing.
The regulation describes circumstances in which periodic future examinations ordinarily are not requested, but those provisions have qualifications. Keep the rating history, medical course and actual notice together. An informal statement that a condition is static should not replace the written information about a scheduled examination.
Does a familiar age rule let me ignore the appointment?
No. General guidelines about routine reexaminations do not establish that a particular appointment has been canceled. Follow the notice and clarify any scheduling or attendance problem through the stated channel. The consequences of failing to report are addressed separately in section 3.655.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 3.327
eCFR snapshot: September 3, 2026. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 3.327 Reexaminations.
(a) General. Reexaminations, including periods of hospital observation, will be requested whenever VA determines there is a need to verify either the continued existence or the current severity of a disability. Generally, reexaminations will be required if it is likely that a disability has improved, or if evidence indicates there has been a material change in a disability or that the current rating may be incorrect. Individuals for whom reexaminations have been authorized and scheduled are required to report for such reexaminations. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section provide general guidelines for requesting reexaminations, but shall not be construed as limiting VA's authority to request reexaminations, or periods of hospital observation, at any time in order to ensure that a disability is accurately rated.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501)
(b) Compensation cases —
(1) Scheduling reexaminations. Assignment of a prestabilization rating requires reexamination within the second 6 months period following separation from service. Following initial Department of Veterans Affairs examination, or any scheduled future or other examination, reexamination, if in order, will be scheduled within not less than 2 years nor more than 5 years within the judgment of the rating board, unless another time period is elsewhere specified.
(2) No periodic future examinations will be requested. In service-connected cases, no periodic reexamination will be scheduled:
(i) When the disability is established as static;
(ii) When the findings and symptoms are shown by examinations scheduled in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section or other examinations and hospital reports to have persisted without material improvement for a period of 5 years or more;
(iii) Where the disability from disease is permanent in character and of such nature that there is no likelihood of improvement;
(iv) In cases of veterans over 55 years of age, except under unusual circumstances;
(v) When the rating is a prescribed scheduled minimum rating; or
(vi) Where a combined disability evaluation would not be affected if the future examination should result in reduced evaluation for one or more conditions.
(c) Pension cases. In nonservice-connected cases in which the permanent total disability has been confirmed by reexamination or by the history of the case, or with obviously static disabilities, further reexaminations will not generally be requested. In other cases further examination will not be requested routinely and will be accomplished only if considered necessary based upon the particular facts of the individual case. In the cases of veterans over 55 years of age, reexamination will be requested only under unusual circumstances.
Cross Reference:
Failure to report for VA examination. See § 3.655.
[26 FR 1585, Feb. 24, 1961, as amended at 30 FR 11855, Sept. 16, 1965; 36 FR 14467, Aug. 6, 1971; 55 FR 49521, Nov. 29, 1990; 60 FR 27409, May 24, 1995]
Related references
- 38 CFR § 3.655: Missing a VA Exam and Good Cause
- 38 CFR § 4.1: What a VA disability rating measures
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
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