Veteran choice is an important component of the AMA, but it also plays a factor in how long it will take to resolve an appeal. For Veterans and appellants choosing to appeal a decision directly to the Board, there are now three different review options, or “dockets,” which they can choose from based on the option that best meets their unique circumstances:

• Direct Review docket: The fastest way to receive a decision when a Veteran or appellant believes everything needed to approve their claim is already in the file. The Board will not consider any new evidence, and the VLJ will decide their case based on the same evidence on record at the time of the decision they are appealing.  At the end of March 2026, the average days pending for Veterans and dependents with appeals in the Direct Docket was 212 days.
• Evidence Submission docket: Some Veterans know they want or need to add additional evidence into their appeal file before consideration by a VLJ. In that case, the Evidence Submission docket allows for additional evidence to be submitted by the Veteran or their representative within 90 days of appealing to the Board. At the end of March 2026, the average days pending for Veterans and dependents with appeals in the Evidence Submission docket was 260 days.
• Hearing docket: On average, it takes the longest to receive a Board decision for appeals on the Hearing docket. This option is best if a Veteran wants to appear personally before a VLJ. In most cases, this is done over video. However, this option will involve the longest wait time. At the end of March 2026, the average days pending for Veterans and dependents with appeals in the Hearing docket was 870 days.

View the Choosing a Decision Review Options page for more information on choices available to Veterans under the AMA.

How quickly AMA cases will be decided stems directly from the choices that Veterans and their representatives determined were best for their individual circumstances. While it took the Board 5 years to change the decision output ratio to 50 Legacy Stems to 50 AMA, the Board’s workload transitioned to adjudicating mostly AMA cases during the last half of FY 2024. As the Board’s ability to work AMA appeals has increased, wait times have dramatically dropped.

Average Days Pending for Veterans & Dependents: The Board acknowledges there was a significant increase in pending Board appeals and ADP towards the latter end of FY 2024. This occurred because a high number of VHA third-party contract provider appeals were moved from the Board’s pre-docket queue to the Board’s docket. While all three AMA dockets were impacted, this primarily impacted the AMA Direct and Evidence dockets. The Board is taking care to ensure these contract-related VHA appeals in the AMA dockets are appropriately distinguished from Veteran, dependent, and beneficiary-related appeals. These third-party appeals require specialized review from a small cadre of specially-trained counsel because of the underlying contractual and jurisdictional issues involved. Therefore, these cases take longer to adjudicate and, ultimately, many must be dismissed. However, processing thee third-party appeals has not slowed the pace of adjudication for appeals filed by Veterans and dependents.

The ADP shown in the graph below represents how long, on average, Veterans’ and dependents’ appeals have been waiting in line for each AMA docket. The ADP will vary depending upon which docket (i.e. Direct Review, Evidence Submission, Hearing) the Veteran chooses. Some will get a decision faster than the average, and some will wait longer. The Board has consistently and publicly reported that the average days to complete AMA appeals will exceed established timeliness goals before cresting and then settling back to within published goals. We are happy to report that has already happened with both the Direct and Evidence dockets. We are also happy to note that wait times (ADP) for those Veteran cases related to disability compensation and pension (C&P) appeals is currently under 200 days for both dockets.   

Note: Graph excludes 3rd party contractors, attorneys and other non-Veterans appeals.

In all, these trends are encouraging signs that VA is achieving faster resolutions of AMA appeals when compared to the slow rates of resolution under the older Legacy system of appeals. The average time required to fully resolve AMA appeals, meaning all issues have received a decision on the merits by a VLJ and there are no remaining remands is currently 5-6 years faster than it takes to fully resolve Legacy system appeals. This positive trend will continue to get even better as the pace of AMA adjudication at the Board continues to accelerate.

If you request a hearing, it can take more than two years to hold a hearing and to get your decision. The reason it is taking the Board so long to resolve appeals in the hearing docket is based on two key factors: (1) The large number of Veterans choosing the hearing lane; and (2) the significant  number of “no shows” and withdrawal requests made too late to fill the slot with another waiting Veteran. 

It is important to keep in mind there are only so many Veterans Law Judges at the Board and judges are the only ones who can both hold hearings and decide cases. The Board has the capacity to hold approximately 1,000 hearings each week, however, the Veterans Service Organization partners who represent most Veterans for free do not have that same capacity. Additionally, nearly one out of every two scheduled hearings are cancelled or withdrawn with insufficient time to fill that empty slot with another Veteran who is patiently waiting in line. Worse, the Board’s judges have often spent precious time reviewing case files and preparing for hearings that were not held. As shown below, over a third of all scheduled Board hearings are cancelled, withdrawn, or waived altogether. This factor is important because Veterans in the AMA Hearings docket ultimately choose not to attend their scheduled hearing about 35% of the time. Stated another way, approximately 35% of all Hearing docket cases ultimately decided never had a hearing before a judge. This highlights the challenge to ensure maximized judge availability for all Veterans waiting in line for a hearing.

Rest assured, Board leadership monitors the Board’s finite resources to balance holding Veteran-requested hearings with issuing decisions for Veterans. Although the current number of pending appeals with a hearing request is nearly 90,000, the trends above demonstrate approximately 35% of those hearings will be cancelled, withdrawn, or waived at the appellants request, and this frequently happens after the Veteran has already waited in that hearing docket line for years. Therefore, a Veteran may be able to substantially reduce wait times by switching their AMA Hearing Docket appeal to either the Direct Review docket or Evidence Submission docket. To do so, the Veteran must request the docket change within one year from the date of the rating decision that is being appealed or within 60 days of the Board’s receipt of the VA Form 10182, whichever is later.

A final point worth mentioning is the convenience of Virtual hearings for Veterans who have selected the Hearing docket. Virtual hearings with a judge do not require Veterans to travel at all. In fact, the overwhelming majority of hearings currently held by the Board are virtual tele-hearings where the Veteran can participate in the hearing from their home. However, the Board has noticed an increasing number of Veterans are now opting to travel to Regional Offices (ROs) to meet with Board judges via video using the teleconferencing equipment at those VA facilities. During the pandemic, over 95% of Veterans chose virtual hearings with judges from their homes and other places of convenience. Now, only about 75% of Veterans choose this virtual hearing option with a judge and it remains unclear why 25% are traveling to a RO for a video hearing with the same judge.