M21-1 and 38 CFR changes, week of Apr 6, 2026

Added

• If the examination is being requested through the ...
• M21-1, Part VI, Subpart iv, 1.A.2.a
• M21-1, Part VI, Subpart iv, 1.A.2.b
• Pre-discharge claim submission is available to service members with no more
• A specific claim for tinnitus is not necessary in order for the audio examination to be required, or for the audio examiner to be required to address tinnitus.
• responsibilities in the SHA exchange with the service department, see
• M21-1, Part X, Subpart i, 6.C.3.c
• requesting examinations for pre-discharge claims involving an undiagnosed illness or a medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illness due to exposures during Gulf War era service, see

and 8 more added passages

Removed

• If the examination is being requested via use of the ...
• M21-1, Part VI, Subpart iii, 1.A.2.a
• M21-1, Part VI, Subpart iii, 1.A.2.b
• Pre-Discharge claim submission is available to service members with no more
• A specific claim for tinnitus is not required in order for the audio examination to be required, or for the audio examiner to be required to address tinnitus.
• responsibilities in the SHA exchange with DOW, see
• M21-1, Part X, Subpart i, 6.C.3.c
• handling cases involving pregnant IDES participants, see

and 2 more removed passages

Added

• April 9, 2026
• request specialist examinations for conditions that are not subject to service connection (SC).) If the examination is requested after the service member is no longer on active duty, do not request the SHA.
• request a general medical examination disability benefits questionnaire (DBQ) along with any applicable specialist DBQs,
• follow the procedures in
• M21-1, Part VIII, Subpart ii, 1.B.2.o
• if the claim involves an undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illness (MUCMI) due to exposures incurred during Gulf War era service.
• general information on presumptive SC for Persian Gulf Veterans, see

and 30 more added passages

Removed

• December 4, 2025
• request specialist examinations for conditions that are not subject to service connection (SC).) If the examination is requested after the service member is no longer on active duty, request a general medical examination disability benefits questionnaire (DBQ) instead of the SHA.
• If there are claims involving an undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multi-system illness (MUCMI) due to exposures incurred during Gulf War era service, and an examination is necessary as defined in
• M21-1, Part VIII, Subpart ii, 1.B.2.a
• request completion of a Gulf War general medical examination DBQ.
• Instead, as part of the examination request for the SHA, ensure to copy and paste the following examination request language from the
• Supplemental Language Matrix

and 33 more removed passages

Added

• The MSC takes no action on the EP 130.
• For more information on using
• MSCs must ensure that all paper documents are either scanned locally or shipped to the scanning vendor as provided in
• April 9, 2026
• Follow the procedures in
• M21-1, Part VIII, Subpart ii, 1.B.2.o
• , when a claim involves an undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illness (MUCMI) due to exposures incurred during Gulf War era service.

and 6 more added passages

Removed

• The MSC takes no action on the EP130.
• For more information on
• MSCs must ensure that all paper documents either scanned locally or shipped to the scanning vendor as provided in
• December 4, 2025
• When there are claims involving an undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multi-system illness (MUCMI) due to exposures incurred during Gulf War era service, and an examination is necessary as defined in
• M21-1, Part VIII, Subpart ii, 1.B.2.a
• request a Gulf War general medical examination DBQ.

and 21 more removed passages

Added

• This topic provides information about submitting documents via QuickSubmit for inclusion in the eFolder, including
• April 6, 2026
• , which has replaced the Direct Upload tool, is a VA-approved claims and document submission service available for submitting documents to the CM portal for inclusion in the eFolder.
• mail the original, as this will create duplicates in the eFolder.
• added a feature called Form Validation Service (FVS), which scans uploaded forms for completeness and checks for accuracy against information previously provided by the user.

and 24 more added passages

Removed

• This topic provides information about submitting documents via QuickSubmit for inclusion in the claims folder, including
• January 12, 2026
• , which has replaced the Direct Upload tool, is a VA-approved claims and document submission service available for submitting documents to the CM portal for inclusion in the claims folder.
• mail the original, as this will create duplicates in the claims folder.
• review the claims folder to ensure the submission was completely uploaded to the claims folder.