Part II, Subpart i, Chapter 2, Section AProcess Overview for Screening Mail

Review all incoming material to determine whether it is

• a claim or evidence in support of a claim
• an issue in the correct jurisdiction, or
• not a claim.

Depending on the nature of the material, determine whether it is necessary to

• obtain additional evidence
• refer the issue to another location or activity, or
• dispose of the issue.

Take the appropriate action.

Determine the type of benefit the claimant seeks, based on

• the type of application the claimant submitted
  • information the claimant provided on the application, and
  • any other supporting evidence the claimant submitted.

Note: All new claims submitted on or after March 24, 2015, must be filed on a standard Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) application form. Reference: For a list of application forms claimants must use to file a claim, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart iii, 1.A.

Since a claim for one benefit can also be a claim for other benefits, consider entitlement to other benefits, if applicable.

• Once the type of claim has been determined, ensure the proper end product (EP) has been established.
• Change the EP and/or claim label, or establish a new one, in VBMS or Share, if necessary.

Review the application to ensure it is substantially complete.

Establish the appropriate EP. The date of claim (DOC) is electronically printed in the upper corner of the on-line application. Important: Applications received from a VA claims-submission service website can be identified by several attributes as discussed in M21-1, Part II, Subpart iii, 4.A.

Initiate development action by reviewing the claims folder to

• determine what evidence is necessary to support the claim, and
• request the evidence from the claimant.

prior to March 24, 2015

• written statement from a claimant for marital or dependency status if sufficient information is provided, including the
  • month, year, and place of the event (i.e., birth, marriage, adoption)
  • full name and relationship of the other person
  • Social Security number of the person, and
  • in cases in which the dependent child does not reside with the claimant, the name and address of the person having custody of the child, or
• original document such as a marriage certificate, or a copy of an original document. If the copy does not appear genuine and free from alteration, the copy must be certified by
  • a public custodian of records
  • any VA employee who is authorized to administer oaths
  • certain representatives of Veterans service organizations
  • certain military personnel, or
  • certain officials of approved educational institutions.

on or after March 24, 2015

VA standard form as part of an original application for benefits or on dependency forms including VA Forms 21-686c, Application Request to Add and/or Remove Dependents, and 21-674, Request for Approval of School Attendance. Note: Fields left blank on the application can be considered none as long as sufficient information is present to establish dependency.

Create a Claim Already on Appeal Letter.

Adjust the criteria in the brackets to match the facts found in the claim form.

Send the letter to the claimant.

Associate a copy of the letter with the claims folder.

If an issue on appeal was added as a contention in VBMS under a rating EP, delete the contention.

If the contention referenced in Step 5 is

• the only claimed contention,
  • change the rating EP (if previously established) to an EP 400, and
  • clear the EP 400, or
• not the only claimed contention, clear an EP 400.

Veterans Service Center (VSC) or pension management center (PMC), IPC coach

• maintains a copy of the Mail Routing Guide
  • reviews the guide at least once a year to ensure it is current, and
  • designates at least one central point where VSC or PMC employees can deliver outgoing mail.

Note: To eliminate unnecessary handling, the point of delivery for outgoing mail should also serve as the point of delivery for incoming mail.

VSC Manager or PMC Manager

• establishes explicit regional office (RO) delivery procedures for all categories of mail, and
  • ensures that procedures appear in the RO’s Mail Routing Guide.

Reference: For more information on official VA mail procedures, see VA Directive 6340, Enterprise Mail Management.

Administrative Support Services Division

establishes local procedures for movement of all mail, including

• delivery of incoming mail, and
• pickup of outgoing mail.

Is the mail for a business line other than Compensation Service or Pension and Fiduciary Service?

• If yes ,
  • reroute the mail to the appropriate business line, following the guidance in M21-1, Part II, Subpart i, 2.D.7, and
  • take no further action.
• If no , go to the next step.

Is the mail related to a pending claim, higher-level review, or legacy appeal, or does it represent late-flowing mail that was submitted in response to development of a recently adjudicated claim or legacy appeal?

• If yes ,
  • follow the instructions in M21-1, Part II, Subpart i, 2.A.5.d, and
  • disregard the remaining steps in this table.
  • If no , go to the next step.

Note: To answer the question posed in this step, check all applicable claims-processing systems, including

• VBMS
• VACOLS, and
• Caseflow.

Does the mail involve a claim that falls under the jurisdiction of a restricted access claims center (RACC) because the claimant is a Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) employee-Veteran, a relative of an employee, an employee or relative of a Veterans service organization, or other restricted record-designee as defined in M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 2.B?

• If yes , go to the next step.
• If no , go to Step 6.

Does the mail represent a claim or legacy appeal that is subject to National Work Queue (NWQ) routing?

• If yes ,
  • activate the Restricted Access corporate flash
  • ensure access to the corresponding VA record is restricted by assigning one of the sensitivity levels described in M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 2.B, and
  • go to the next step.
  • If no , go to the next step.

Important: ROs must request assistance from their NWQ point of contact when transferring a claim if they are unable to activate the Restricted Access corporate flash because VA has already assigned one of the sensitivity levels described in M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 2.B.References:** For more information on

• managing flashes, see the VBMS Core User Guide
• appropriate restricted record and sensitive access designations, see the Sensitive Record Designations and Authorizations OBI Letter , and
• restricted access claim attributes, see M21-4, Appendix E.1.

Transfer the mail to the appropriate RACC queue (St. Paul RACC, Milwaukee RACC, or San Diego RACC) and take no further action. Notes:

• System access settings prevent most RO employees from updating VA’s systems to reflect the receipt of evidence or information included in mail that a RACC must ultimately process.
  • RACC development letters include a coversheet that recipients are instructed to place on top of mail they send to VA. Use of the coversheet in this manner facilitates automatic routing of the mail to the appropriate RACC queue.
  • To avoid improper routing in the CM portal, Public Contact Team personnel accepting mail from VBA employee-Veterans must use the appropriate coversheet from the RACC Cover Sheets site.

Reference: For more information on RACC jurisdiction, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 2.B.

Does the mail represent material that a PMC must review/process?

• If yes ,
  • use the map below to determine the PMC with jurisdiction
  • transfer the mail to the appropriate PMC queue, and
  • take no further action.

• If no , go to the next step.

Does the mail represent a new compensation-related claim, or does it include a VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), or VA Form 9 , Appeal to Board of Veterans' Appeals?

• If yes , go to the next step.
• If no , go to Step 12.

Will the RO that received the mail retain jurisdiction?

• If yes , go to the next step.
  • If no , go to Step 11.

Important:

• ROs may not transfer claims (rating or non-rating), legacy appeals, or work items, to include mail received in the CM portal, to another RO solely because the claimant resides within another RO’s geographical jurisdiction. ROs may transfer a claim to another RO only if the
  • claimant has requested a personal hearing
  • claimant is a homeless Veteran, or
  • claim is a “special mission claim” that a specific RO must process.

Does the mail represent a claim?

• If yes ,
  • place the claim under control according to the instructions in M21-1, Part II, Subpart iii, 3.A.1, and
  • go to the next step.
• If no , go to the next step.

Upload the mail into the appropriate eFolder and disregard the remaining steps in this table.

Follow the instructions in the table below. If the claim, legacy notice of disagreement (NOD), or VA Form 9 … Then…

• requires a formal legacy appeal or pre-decisional hearing, or

• pertains to a homeless Veteran

• establish the EP in the appropriate claims-processing or appeals-management system

• broker the EP to the RO with geographic jurisdiction based on the claimant’s or appellant’s place of residence, and

• take no further action.

• involves special mission issues with exclusive jurisdiction, or

• involves exceptions to general policy for claims folder jurisdiction

• determine jurisdiction by following the guidance found in M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 3

• transfer the mail to the proper RO’s queue, and

• take no further action.

Does the mail represent a fiduciary matter?

• If yes , refer the incoming fiduciary-related mail, correspondence, or documents via the CM portal to the fiduciary hub (hub) of jurisdiction unless the PMC or VSC is authorized to take action on the mail as provided in M21-1, Part X, Subpart ii, 6.E.1.d.
  • If no , go to the next step.

Important:

• Do not update the contact or direct deposit information when the beneficiary has a fiduciary or change the beneficiary’s name when a beneficiary is assigned a spouse fiduciary.
• Follow the guidance in M21-1, Part II, Subpart iii, 3.B.1.c, to notify the hub of jurisdiction when a
  • valid change of contact or direct deposit information is received for a beneficiary that has a fiduciary, or
  • beneficiary is assigned a spouse fiduciary and a request to change the beneficiary’s name is received.

References: For more information on

• basic user mail-processing roles in the CM portal, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart i, 2.A.5.b
• hub jurisdiction and contact information, see M21-1, Part X, Subpart ii, 6.C.1.d
• handling a name change for a beneficiary, custodian, or fiduciary, see M21-1, Part X, Subpart ii, 6.E.1.d, and
• beneficiary is assigned a spouse fiduciary and a request to change the beneficiary’s name is received, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart iii, 3.B.1.c.

Does a review of the mail reveal that no action is needed?

• If yes ,
  • treat the mail as “file mail” or “drop mail,” and
  • upload the mail into the appropriate eFolder.
• If no ,
  • take all necessary actions (such as processing an intent to file (ITF) a claim, changing an address, updating the POA, and so on), and
  • upload the mail into the appropriate eFolder.

Does the solicited or unsolicited mail pertain to a pending EP?

• If yes , go to the next step.
• If no , determine whether the mail requires hub action as provided in Step 12 of the table found in M21-1, Part II, Subpart i, 2.A.5.c. If hub action
  • is required, take the appropriate action as provided in Step 12 of the table found in M21-1, Part II, Subpart i, 2.A.5.c, or
  • is not required, go to Step 6.

Does the mail represent evidence requested and documented by a tracked item?

• If yes , go to the next step (the mail is considered solicited).
• If no , go to Step 4 (the mail is considered unsolicited).

• Update the tracked item RECEIVED field with the date of receipt of the mail
  • select the SAVE button
  • upload the mail into the appropriate eFolder in VBMS, and
  • take no further action.

Example:

Update the MANAGING EVIDENCE screen to reflect the mail VA received under the ADD UNSOLICITED tab. Examples:

• Add any new contentions by selecting ADD CONTENTIONS on the CONTENTIONS LIST tab
  • upload the mail into the appropriate eFolder in VBMS, and
  • take no further action.

Example: Notes:

• Remember to include the DOC (date of receipt of new contention) for each contention.
• Do not change the segmented lane already assigned unless there is a new special issue or special operations contention.

Check VACOLS to determine whether an appeal is pending.Does the mail pertain to a pending legacy appeal?

• If yes ,
  • update VBMS to reflect receipt of the mail, as outlined in Step 4
  • upload the mail into the appropriate eFolder in VBMS, and
  • go to Step 8.
  • If no , go to the next step.

Reference: For more information on using VACOLS, see the VACOLS User's Guide.

Is an EP 930 warranted (does the mail relate to a claim VA already decided, and did VA receive the mail before it decided the claim)?

• If yes , establish an EP 930 in the appropriate claim system and go back to Step 4.
  • If no ,
    • treat the mail as a request for an application, and
    • disregard the remaining step in this table.

Note: Use the appropriate claim label to differentiate between a rating and non-rating EP 930. References: For more information on

• using EP 930, see M21-4, Appendix B
• establishing claims in the appropriate claim system, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart iii, 3.A, and
• handling a request for an application, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart iii, 2.G.

Is the appeal under the jurisdiction of BVA?

• If yes , send the mail to the re-route queue (a Super User will reassign the mail to BVA in the CM portal).
• If no , take no further action.