VA Form 21-4138Statement in Support of Claim
The general-purpose written statement — one page, mostly blank — where you tell VA in your own words what a condition does to your life.
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- The form is free from VA
- July 2024 edition
- You edit it, you sign it, you submit it
What VA Form 21-4138 is for.
VA Form 21-4138 is VA's catch-all statement form. It has a place for your identifying details and then a large empty box headed "Remarks", with a signature line under it. Whatever you write in that box becomes evidence in your file.
Veterans use it for the personal statement — the first-hand account of symptoms, frequency and daily limitations that medical records alone don't show. It's also the form VA points you to when another form runs out of room, or when you need to add a detail to a claim that's already in.
No doctor signs it, and nothing on it has to be in legal language. Its authority comes from the fact that you were there.
- Official title
- Statement in Support of Claim
- Form number
- VA Form 21-4138
- Current edition
- July 2024
- Plain name
- Personal statement
When VA Form 21-4138 is the right form — and when it isn’t.
This is the form you need if…
- You are filing an initial claim, an increase, a supplemental claim or a secondary condition and want VA to hear how the condition affects you day to day.
- A rating decision missed something — a symptom, a job you lost, a flare-up pattern — and you want it on the record.
- Another VA form's box was too small, and the instructions told you to continue on a 21-4138.
- You need to tell VA something that fits no other form: a changed address for a provider, a correction, context for a gap in treatment.
Reach for a different form if…
- You are describing a traumatic in-service event for a mental-health claim — that goes on VA Form 21-0781, which asks for the details VA needs.
- Someone else is writing about what they've seen — that's a lay statement, and it belongs on VA Form 21-10210.
- You want to file the claim itself. The 21-4138 supports a claim; it doesn't open one. That's the 21-526EZ.
- You want to argue a medical cause. A nexus opinion has to come from a clinician; a statement can describe, but it can't diagnose.
Still not sure which form your claim needs? An accredited VSO will help you file it for free, and VeteranAI works alongside them, never instead of them.
Filling out VA Form 21-4138, step by step.
What each part of the form is asking for, and what a rater does with the answer. Item numbers change between editions; the questions don’t.
Fill in the header exactly as it appears on your claim
Name, Social Security number or VA file number, date of birth and contact details. A mismatch with the claim is the most common reason a statement gets filed to the wrong place.
Say which claim and which condition the statement is for
Open the Remarks with the condition and the type of claim ("This statement supports my claim for an increased rating for lumbar strain"). A rater reading a stack of pages needs to know where yours goes.
Describe onset, symptoms, frequency and impact — in that order
When it started, what it feels like, how often, and what it stops you doing at work and at home. Specific beats dramatic: "three or four flare-ups a month, each two days on the floor" says more than "constant agony".
Give one concrete example
A dated incident — the shift you left early, the trip you cancelled, the night your spouse drove you to the ER — makes the pattern real.
Sign, date, and keep a copy
Unsigned statements are returned. Attach it to your claim online or mail it to the Claims Intake Center, and keep a copy for your own file.
Where VA Form 21-4138 goes wrong.
- Mistake 1
Writing a medical opinion
"My back pain is caused by my parachute injuries" is a nexus opinion, and it carries no weight coming from you. Describe what you feel and what you can't do; let the medical evidence make the connection.
- Mistake 2
Vagueness
"Severe" and "all the time" don't map to rating criteria. Numbers, frequencies and durations do.
- Mistake 3
Arguing the law instead of telling the story
Citing 38 CFR in the Remarks box doesn't help the rater — they know the regulation. What they don't know is what your Tuesday looks like.
- Mistake 4
Leaving it unsigned or undated
The signature is what makes it a statement rather than a note. VA will return it, and the claim waits.
Guided questions instead of a blank Remarks box.
The Personal Statement Writer asks the questions a rater needs answered — onset, symptoms, frequency, what it stops you doing — and structures your answers into a statement in your own words, formatted for the 21-4138. You edit every line, you sign it, you submit it. Nothing is written for you that you didn't say.
Self-help software for veterans filing their own claims. Not accredited, not a representative — you edit every line, you sign it, you submit it, and nobody takes a cut of your benefits.
Write my statementSee the Personal Statement Writer →VA Form 21-4138, answered
Question not here? team@veteranai.coVA Form 21-4138, Statement in Support of Claim, is the general-purpose form for telling VA something in your own words. Veterans use it for personal statements describing symptoms and daily impact, for adding detail to a claim already filed, and as the overflow page when another form's box runs out of room.
Name the claim and condition, then describe when it began, what the symptoms are, how often they occur and what they stop you doing at work and at home. One dated, specific example carries more weight than a page of adjectives. Don't argue medical cause — that's a clinician's job — and sign and date it.
The 21-4138 is the general statement form for any condition. The 21-0781 is specifically for mental-health claims tied to a traumatic event in service — it asks about the event, the date, the unit and the location, which the 21-4138 doesn't. Use the 0781 for those claims and the 4138 for everything else.
Yes. VA.gov offers an online version of the statement, and you can also upload a completed PDF to an existing claim or mail it to the Claims Intake Center. The form is free from VA either way.
The 21-4138 is free. What goes on it is the work.
VeteranAI builds the content that goes on VA Form 21-4138 with you — in your words, edited by you, signed by you. Nobody takes a cut of your benefits.
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