What happens after a VA remand what remanded means, the timeline, the new C&P exam, and how often remands are granted
A remand means the Board of Veterans' Appeals sent your appeal back to VA to fix a problem, usually a missing or inadequate exam or missing records, before deciding it. It is not a denial. VA must do what the Board ordered and decide again. Of legacy appeals the Board decided again after a remand, 26.9% were granted.
After a remand, legacy appeals the Board decided again, 2010 to 2026
26.9%
were granted the second time, of 339,728 appeals
- 476median days between the decisions
- 83.1%granted when the new exam was inadequate
- 45.3%of Board rulings remanded, 2021 to 2026
- 45.3%of decided Board rulings, 2021 to 2026, were sent back to VA
- 26.9%of legacy remanded appeals were granted when the Board decided them again
- 83.1%granted when the Board found the exam done after the remand inadequate
- 476median days from the remand to the Board's next decision (legacy)
Board figures: Claim Raven's analysis of Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions. Remand rates, 2021 to 2026; remand journeys, legacy appeals with the second decision in 2010 to 2026.
On this page
What does remanded mean in a VA claim?
Remanded means the Board of Veterans' Appeals sent your appeal back to VA to fix a problem before anyone decides it. It is not a grant and not a denial. The Board found that VA hadn't done everything it owed you, most often a missing or inadequate medical exam or records VA never got.
- The Board must remand to fix VA's errors. Unless it can grant the issue in full, the Board sends an appeal back to correct a duty-to-assist error VA made before its decision, and the remand must say exactly what VA has to do (38 CFR 20.802(a)).
- Each issue has its own outcome. One Board decision can grant one condition, deny another and remand a third. Read the order one issue at a time.
- Remands are common. From 2021 to 2026, the Board sent 45.3% of its decided rulings back to VA (562,014 rulings): 52.7% of legacy appeals and 38.8% of appeals under the current system.
- Favorable findings stay. A finding in your favor, such as that an in-service event happened, binds later VA decision makers unless clear and convincing evidence shows otherwise (38 U.S.C. 5104A).
Why the Board sent appeals back to VA
Share of 562,014 remanded rulings, 2021 to 2026. A remand can give more than one reason.
Source: Claim Raven analysis of Board decisions.
VA remand: what happens now, step by step
VA has to do what the Board ordered, then decide the issue again. What happens after that depends on whether your appeal is a legacy appeal (a VA decision before February 19, 2019) or under the current system (AMA).
Current system (AMA)
VA corrects the error, decides the claim again and sends you a new decision with your review options. The appeal does not go back to the Board on its own; if you disagree, you pick a Supplemental Claim, a Higher-Level Review or a new Board appeal (38 CFR 20.802(c), 38 U.S.C. 5104C).
Legacy appeal
VA does the development and reviews the claim. If it grants everything, the appeal ends. If not, it sends a Supplemental Statement of the Case, gives you 30 days to respond and returns the appeal to the Board (38 CFR 19.38, 19.31(c)).
Read the remand order
Find the numbered instructions near the end of the Board decision and the "reasons for remand" before them. Make a list: each instruction, what VA should produce, and what you might be asked for.
Answer VA's requests
Send the record releases VA asks for, keep your address current, and go to any exam it schedules, or call right away to reschedule.
Add evidence
You can send more evidence and argument on a remanded issue (Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999)). A private medical opinion that answers the remand's question is the strongest addition in the data below.
Check that VA followed the order
You have a right to have VA comply with the remand (Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998)). Courts require substantial compliance, not perfect compliance (D'Aries v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 97 (2008)). A new exam that skips the question the Board asked doesn't comply; one that answers it against you can.
Read the next decision closely
Check each issue's outcome, rating and effective date, and whether earlier favorable findings still appear. Under the current system, your review deadlines run from this new decision.
Remanded by the Court? If the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims sent your case back to the Board, often after a joint motion for remand, the Board must handle it quickly (38 U.S.C. 7112(a)) and decide it again. See VA's options after a Board decision (opens in a new tab).
The VA remand C&P exam: what to expect
Most remands ask for a new C&P exam or medical opinion: 84.9% of the legacy remands in the study did. The new exam has to answer the question the Board asked, and once VA gives you an exam, it has to be adequate (Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303 (2007), 38 CFR 3.159(c)(4)).
The new exam mattered. Where VA got a new exam or opinion, the Board found it adequate 85.5% of the time, and granted 19.9% of those appeals. When it found the new exam inadequate (9.3%), it granted 83.1% instead of sending the appeal back again. When the Board relied mainly on a new VA exam or opinion, it granted 23.9%.
How to prepare for a remand exam
- Read the exact question the Board told the examiner to answer, and bring the records it names.
- Describe your worst days and how often they happen, not only how you feel that day.
- For a secondary claim, make sure the exam addresses aggravation as well as causation, if the Board asked for both.
- Afterward, request the exam report and check it against the Board's question before VA decides.
Granted after the remand, by what the Board found about the new exam
Legacy appeals with a new VA exam or opinion after the remand, later decision 2010 to 2026.
Associations, not causes. Source: Claim Raven's remand journey study of Board decisions.
VA remand timeline: how long it takes
No rule sets a deadline. The law tells VA to handle remanded claims quickly (38 U.S.C. 5109B, 38 CFR 20.802(c)), but the wait depends on the records, exams and opinions the remand ordered. In legacy appeals, the median time from the remand to the Board's next decision was 476 days.
36.7% of those appeals came back to the Board within a year. Waiting longer didn't lower the odds: the later grant rate rose as the time between the two decisions grew.
Under the current system, the remanded issue goes back to VA and doesn't return to the Board unless you appeal again, so there is no Board-to-Board timeline to measure. Track it on VA's claim and appeal status page (opens in a new tab); status labels don't show every task, so keep your own list of what the remand ordered and what has been done.
Granted after a remand, by time between the two Board decisions
Legacy appeals, later decision 2010 to 2026.
Associations, not causes. Source: Claim Raven's remand journey study of Board decisions.
Original research
What percentage of VA remands are approved?
In legacy appeals the Board decided again after a remand, 26.9% ended in a grant: 91,345 of 339,728 appeals, with the second decision from 2010 to 2026. The rate rose from 21.0% in 2010 to 37.7% in 2026 so far.
Why legacy only: a legacy appeal returns to the Board on the same docket after a remand, so the first and second decisions can be matched. Under the current system, VA's next decision doesn't come back to the Board unless you appeal again, so Board decisions can't show how those remands end. No one should quote you a single remand approval rate for current appeals.
Granted after a remand, by what the appeal asked for
Legacy appeals remanded and decided again, later decision 2010 to 2026. Issue types with 500 or more appeals.
Associations, not causes. Source: Claim Raven's remand journey study of Board decisions.
By condition
Conditions with 500 or more remanded appeals the Board decided again. The full list for each condition is on its page, in "What happened after a remand".
| Condition | Granted | Appeals |
|---|---|---|
| Tinnitus | 44.3% | 4,848 |
| Migraines | 40.5% | 6,616 |
| PTSD | 39.5% | 14,239 |
| Depression | 38.1% | 1,960 |
| IBS | 38.0% | 910 |
| HIV | 37.0% | 1,736 |
| Anxiety | 36.5% | 1,481 |
| Sleep Apnea | 33.0% | 7,627 |
| Condition | Granted | Appeals |
|---|---|---|
| Vision Loss | 11.7% | 2,271 |
| Tooth Loss | 12.7% | 915 |
| Prostate | 13.8% | 938 |
| Leg or Foot Amputation | 15.6% | 1,691 |
| COPD | 16.7% | 4,490 |
| Wrist | 17.9% | 1,860 |
| Cataracts | 18.7% | 556 |
| Chronic Fatigue | 19.2% | 1,357 |
What changes the outcome after a remand
The new evidence decides it. Most remands bring back a new VA exam or opinion, and when that evidence went against the claim, the Board almost never granted. A new private medical opinion was rare, and it went with far more grants.
Granted after a remand, with and without a new private medical opinion
Legacy appeals remanded and decided again, later decision 2010 to 2026.
Associations, not causes: a doctor usually writes a private opinion because the facts support the claim. Source: Claim Raven's remand journey study of Board decisions.
- Which way the new evidence pointed. Where the direction was clear, the new evidence went against the claim in 78.1% of appeals, and only 4.2% of those were granted. When it favored the claim (7.9%), 99.1% were granted.
- About one in five came back with nothing new. In 21.5% of appeals the second decision rested on evidence already in the file before the remand, and 30.3% of those were granted.
- When a private opinion was what the Board relied on most (1.8% of appeals), 79.7% were granted.
- Whether VA followed the remand. The second decision said VA followed the remand in 56.5% of appeals (19.6% granted). In 10.1%, VA hadn't fully followed it but the Board decided anyway, and 41.1% were granted.
The practical lesson: use the remand. If the Board said the VA opinion was inadequate, a private opinion that answers the same question, with reasons, gives the next decision something better to rely on.
Remands under the current appeals system (AMA)
Under the current system, the Board remands mainly to fix a duty-to-assist error VA made before its decision, and the remanded issue comes back to you as a new VA decision with a fresh year to choose your next review (38 CFR 20.802, 38 U.S.C. 5104C).
The docket you pick at the Board shapes what it can see, and so how often it sends issues back:
How often the Board sent issues back, by docket
Appeals under the current system, 2021 to 2026, every issue. Share of decided rulings remanded.
Source: Claim Raven analysis of Board decisions. What went together, not proof that a docket caused a result.
Compare a Supplemental Claim, a Higher-Level Review and a Board appeal for your next step with the Appeals Advisor, and see VA's own review numbers on VA decision review statistics.
Questions veterans ask about VA remands
What does remanded mean in VA disability?
The Board of Veterans' Appeals sent the issue back to VA to fix a problem, such as a missing or inadequate exam or missing records, before deciding it. A remand is not a grant or a denial.
Is a remand good or bad?
Neither. It means the record wasn't complete enough to decide. In legacy appeals the Board decided again after a remand, 26.9% were granted, and the outcome depended mostly on what the new evidence showed.
What percentage of VA remands are approved?
For legacy appeals, 26.9% of 339,728 remanded appeals the Board decided again from 2010 to 2026 were granted. Remands under the current system go back to VA as new decisions and can't be followed through Board decisions, so no reliable rate exists for them.
How long does a VA remand take?
There is no set deadline; the law requires VA to handle remands quickly. In legacy appeals, the median time between the remand and the Board's next decision was 476 days.
Will I get a new C&P exam after a remand?
Usually. Most remands ask for a new exam or opinion. If the Board later finds that exam inadequate, it often grants instead of remanding again: 83.1% of legacy appeals in that situation were granted.
Can I submit new evidence after a remand?
Yes. You can send additional evidence and argument on a remanded issue, and a private medical opinion that answers the remand's question is the most useful kind.
What happens if VA doesn't follow the remand?
You have a right to have VA substantially comply with the Board's remand instructions. In a legacy appeal, the Board checks compliance when the appeal returns and can remand again. Under the current system, raise it in your next review.
Does a remanded appeal go back to the Board?
A legacy appeal does, if VA doesn't grant everything after the remand. Under the current system it doesn't: VA issues a new decision, and you choose a new review if you disagree.
Sources and method
Board data. Claim Raven reads every Board of Veterans' Appeals decision in its library ruling by ruling: 1,378,030 rulings in 511,036 decisions from 2021 to 2026, each tagged with the issue it decided, the outcome in the decision's order and what the Board relied on. This page counts the 1,378,030 rulings on every issue. Grant rates are granted out of granted, denied and sent back (remanded); dismissed and withdrawn appeals are left out because the Board never decided them. "What the Board relied on" is read only on rulings the Board granted or denied, so it compares with that group's own grant rate. Groups under 100 rulings aren't shown. The library holds only part of 2021's decisions. These figures show what went together in decided appeals, not what caused a result, and they are appeals, not VA's first decisions. The full method is on the VA disability statistics page.
Remand journeys. To see what happens after a remand, Claim Raven matched every legacy appeal the Board remanded with its later decision on the same issue on the same docket, with the later decision from 2010 to 2026: 339,728 appeals that passed text checks. Each pair was read for what the remand asked for, what new evidence came in, whether the Board found a new exam adequate, whether VA followed the remand and how the issue ended. Only issues the Board went on to decide are counted; an issue remanded again, withdrawn or still pending isn't. Appeals under the current system start a new docket and can't be matched. Rates under 100 appeals aren't shown. Associations, not causes.
Rules (checked against the eCFR and the U.S. Code on 2026-10-06):
- 38 CFR 20.802, 19.31, 19.38, 3.159
- 38 U.S.C. 5104A, 5104C, 5109B, 7112
- Court decisions: Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998); Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999); Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303 (2007); D'Aries v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 97 (2008)
- VA.gov: what's a remand (opens in a new tab), legacy appeals (opens in a new tab), after a Board decision (opens in a new tab)
Cite this page
Claim Raven. What happens after a VA remand: Board remand journeys. Board data 2021 to 2026. https://claimraven.com/va-remand
Claim Raven explains VA rules in plain English so you can work your own claim. It is not legal advice, and Claim Raven is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Board outcomes describe appeals that reached the Board; they don't predict any one claim.