Case A26040587

Summary

The veteran served on active duty from October 1986 to November 1993. The veteran appealed a rating decision concerning the effective date for service connection for dermatitis, a skin condition. The core issue was whether the June 8, 2022, "intent to file" for benefits should be associated with the subsequent claim for dermatitis, filed on a VA Form 21-526EZ in June 2023, or with an earlier supplemental claim for sleep apnea filed in December 2022. The Board noted that an "intent to file" generally attaches to the first claim filed within one year. Initially, VA had associated the intent to file with the supplemental claim for sleep apnea. However, a subsequent December 2025 rating decision corrected an error in the effective date assigned to the sleep apnea award, altering its association with the intent to file. Considering the arguments and the procedural history, including a Joint Motion for Remand from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, the Board determined that the June 8, 2022, intent to file should remain unassociated with the sleep apnea claim due to the subsequent correction. Therefore, the intent to file was considered validly associated with the first completed claim received within one year, which was the claim for the skin disability. The Board granted entitlement to an effective date of June 8, 2022, for the award of service connection for the skin disability.

Rationale

Intent to file received June 8, 2022.; Claim for skin condition filed June 2023.; Board found intent to file attached to skin claim due to subsequent rating decision correction.

Full Decision Text

Citation Nr: A26040587
Decision Date: 04/30/26	Archive Date: 04/30/26

DOCKET NO. 230920-377851
DATE: April 30, 2026

ORDER

Entitlement to an effective date of June 8, 2022, and no earlier, for the award of service connection for dermatitis (claimed as skin condition) is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The claim for service connection of a skin condition, diagnosed as dermatitis, was received within the one-year period following a June 8, 2022, intent to file. 

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for an effective date of June 8, 2022, for the award of service connection for a skin disability are met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 5101, 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1, 3.155, 3.400, 3.2500.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from October 1986 to November 1993.

In September 2023, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) received a VA Form

10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement) where

Board review of an August 2023 rating decision issued by the Department of

Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) was requested.

In March 2025, the Board adjudicated the claim for an earlier effective date. That decision was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In November 2025, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) where the parties requested vacatur of the March 2025 Board decision and that the matter was remanded for readjudication consistent with the terms of the JMR. 

In the direct review docket, the Board may only consider the evidence of the record at the time of the rating decision on appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.301. Any evidence associated with the claims file after the decision on appeal has not been considered in this decision.

1. Entitlement to an effective date prior to June 6, 2023, for the award of service connection for dermatitis (claimed as skin condition).

The Veteran seeks an effective date of June 8, 2022, for the award of service connection for dermatitis (skin disability). In support of the earlier effective date, the Veteran, through his representative, contends that his claim of service connection was filed within one year from VA's receipt of the June 8, 2022 intent to file. See for example arguments submitted along the VA Form 10182.

The effective date of an award of a service connection claim will be the date of

receipt of the claim, or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. 38 U.S.C. § 5110 (a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400.

The term "claim" means a written or electronic communication requesting a

determination of entitlement to a benefit submitted on an application form

prescribed by the Secretary. 38 C.F.R. § 3.1(p). Hence, a specific claim in the form prescribed by the Secretary must be filed in order for benefits to be paid to any individual under the laws administered by VA. 38 U.S.C. § 5101 (a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.151 (a), 3.160. 

Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.155 (b), a claimant may indicate their desire to file a claim for benefits by submitting an "intent to file" a claim to VA. If VA receives a complete application form within 1 year of receipt of the intent to file a claim, VA will consider the complete claim filed as of the date the "intent to file" a claim was received. Though multiple issues may be contained within a complete claim, only one complete claim for a benefit (e.g., compensation, pension) may be associated with each intent to file a claim for that benefit. In the event multiple complete claims for a benefit are filed within 1 year of an "intent to file" a claim for that benefit, only the first claim filed will be associated with the "intent to file" a claim. In the event that VA receives both an "intent to file" a claim and an incomplete application form before the complete claim as defined in § 3.160(a) is filed, the complete claim will be considered filed as of the date of receipt of whichever was filed first provided it is perfected within the necessary timeframe, but in no event, will the complete claim be considered filed more than one year prior to the date of receipt of the complete
) may be associated with each intent to file a claim for that benefit. In the event multiple complete claims for a benefit are filed within 1 year of an "intent to file" a claim for that benefit, only the first claim filed will be associated with the "intent to file" a claim. In the event that VA receives both an "intent to file" a claim and an incomplete application form before the complete claim as defined in § 3.160(a) is filed, the complete claim will be considered filed as of the date of receipt of whichever was filed first provided it is perfected within the necessary timeframe, but in no event, will the complete claim be considered filed more than one year prior to the date of receipt of the complete claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.155(d)(1)(ii).

The documents in the record for review show that a VA Form 21-0966, Intent to file, was associated with the claims file on June 8, 2022. Then, in December 2022, a VA Form 20-0995, Supplemental Claim, seeking review of the matter of service connection for sleep apnea, as adjudicated in a December 2021 rating decision was received. A May 2023 rating decision adjudicated this supplemental claim and granted service connection for sleep apnea (not part of the instant appeal).

Then, in June 2023, a VA Form 21-526EZ, was associated with the claims file. In this form, the Veteran sought compensation for a skin condition. An August 2023 rating decision granted service connection for the skin disability, and assigned an effective date of June 6, 2023. Thereafter, the instant appeal ensued, regarding the  effective date assigned to the award of service connection for the skin disability in the August 2023 rating decision. See September 2023 VA Form 10182. The Board addressed the appeal in a March 2025 decision. The decision was appealed to the Court and the matter has returned for further consideration consistent with the terms of a JMR granted by Court.  

Per the terms of the JMR granted by the Court in November 2025, the Board should consider whether VA waived the application of the June 2022 Intent to File to any complete claim on a form other than a VA Form 21-526EZ, by virtue of the June 2022 VA notification letter. The letter informed the Veteran that the intent to file would attach to a completed claim application received within one year and invited him to complete a VA Form 21-526EZ, original claim application, for VA to begin processing [his] claim for compensation. See JMR granted by the Court in November 2025; See also argument submitted along the September 2023 VA Form 10182 and correspondence of February 2026. 

The provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.155, describing the manner and methods in which a claim can be initiated and filed- including "intent to file", are in essence claims-processing rules governing the orderly processing of cases. These claims processing rules are subject to waiver- absent some affirmative indication of Congress' intent to preclude waiver. See generally  Janssen v. Principi, 15 Vet. App. 370, 374 (2001); see also Percy v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 37, 43 (2009); Ferko v. McDonough, 37 Vet. App. 262 (2024) (the term to file a legacy NOD is a mandatory claims-progressing rule). A waiver or forfeiture of a claim processing rule, even a mandatory or non-discretionary one, can be explicit or implicit. To waive a procedural right, a party must possess such a right; have knowledge of that right; and intend, voluntarily and freely, to relinquish or surrender that right. Clark v. O'Rourke, 30 Vet. App. 92, 97 (2018); Janssen, 15 Vet. App. at 374.  

In this case, the June 2022 VA notification letter, on its own, did not constitute a waiver of the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.155, nor did it serve to otherwise limit the potential application of the intent to file to just those presented on a VA Form 21-526EZ. Particularly, it must be observed that the June 2022 VA notification letter was not an adjudication or a decision (a determination granting or denying benefits including an assessment of the legal or factual issues at hand). Rather, the letter in question is but an administrative, clerical, or ministerial action that served to acknowledge VA's receipt of the Veteran's "intent to file" only. These types of notifications, on their own, generally do not constitute an
 VA notification letter, on its own, did not constitute a waiver of the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.155, nor did it serve to otherwise limit the potential application of the intent to file to just those presented on a VA Form 21-526EZ. Particularly, it must be observed that the June 2022 VA notification letter was not an adjudication or a decision (a determination granting or denying benefits including an assessment of the legal or factual issues at hand). Rather, the letter in question is but an administrative, clerical, or ministerial action that served to acknowledge VA's receipt of the Veteran's "intent to file" only. These types of notifications, on their own, generally do not constitute an explicit or implicit waiver of an applicable claim processing rule, as they do not provide an assessment of legal or factual issues grating or denying a benefit. At the time the now vacated March 2025 Board decision was issued, the documents in the claims file did not show or allude to any adjudicative action by VA that could be construed as a waiver of the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.155. Rather, at the time of the March 2025 Board decision, VA's adjudicative actions had affirmatively applied those provisions by finding the June 2022 Intent to File had attached to a December 2022 Supplemental Claim (resulting in an effective date for the sleep apnea based on the date the Intent to File was received) and assigning an effective date for the skin disability based on the date the VA Form 21-526EZ was received. As a result of those adjudicative actions, and per 38 C.F.R. § 3.155 (regarding intent to file) the Board concluded in its now vacated decision that as the Intent to File had attached to the December 2022 Supplemental Claim, it could not attach to the claim for a skin disability. 

Nonetheless, the Board observes that since the March 2025 Board decision was issued, there have been additional adjudicative actions by VA. Most importantly, a December 2025 rating decision found a clear and unmistakable error in the effective date assigned to the award of service connection for sleep apnea. The correction of the error resulted in the assignment of an effective date different from the date of receipt of the June 2022 Intent to File. 

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?

When the above adjudicative development is considered in view of the particular circumstances of this appeal and the arguments raised, the Board finds that the appropriate effective date for the award of service connection for the skin disability is June 8, 2022, the receipt date of the Veteran's intent to file. In this regard, the Board acknowledges that an "intent to file" generally attaches to the first claim filed after its receipt, and that supplemental claims are no longer excluded from the "intent to file" framework under the AMA. As such, an Intent to File may properly attach to a Supplemental Claim if such is the first claim received within the one-year period after the intent to file. See Military-Veterans Advocacy, 7 F.4th 1110 (Fed. Cir. July 2021). In this case, however, the "intent to file" is no longer attached to the December 2022 Supplemental Claim by virtue of the determinations made in the December 2025 rating decision. Accordingly, the June 8, 2022 intent to file is considered to have remained unassociated with a complete claim, until the Veteran's submission of the Form VA 21-526EZ pertaining a skin disability. This submission constituted a completed formal application for benefits received within one year from the intent to file, and therefore, an effective date based on the date the intent to file was received is warranted for the skin disability, June 8, 2022. 

For the above reasons, entitlement to an earlier effective date of June 8, 2022, but no earlier, for the grant of service connection for a skin disability, is warranted. To this extent, the benefit sought on appeal, is granted.

 

 

KRISTI L. GUNN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	B. Gonzalez-Maldonado, Counsel

The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.