NOD Processing Time

[Jimmy2tymes]

Hi all,

I hope all you fine vets are doing well. I wanted to get some other vets experiences on how long it has taken your RO to review your NOD.  I submitted my NOD to the Roanoke RO on 12/24/2015 and elected the DRO review.  It's been sitting there collecting dust ever since and is currently at 420 days and counting.  I call Peggy on a regular basis and they give me the same sorry response that it's currently waiting on the DRO review.  They have also consistently told me that on average it takes the Roanoke RO 246 days to complete their NOD reviews.  That average hasn't changed over the last year despite the Monday morning reports showing that this RO is working over 14,000 appeals. So I'm not placing much confidence in the 246 day average. Also, the ebenefits website does indicate that my appeal was submitted but it's not showing any progress either.

Based on some posts from this site and some recent articles I came across on other sites, it looks that due to the appeals backlog I may actually be waiting even longer for a decision on the NOD....like upwards to 700 days just for the NOD decision itself (which doesn't factor the time it takes to process Form 9).  So does anyone have any input to share regarding how long it took your RO to complete their review of your NOD?  Just want to get  a good idea of what to expect going forward.  Thanks in advance for any input you can provide.

 

 

[Navyguy2013]

My NOD was filed March of 2014, still no movement or changes in Ebenefits on it.  That's over 700 days, and counting.

[flores97]

I filed my NOD on November 6 2015, ebenefits updated with my new rating yesterday and the actual rating decision was made on January 20, last month, out of Winston Salem Regional. Don't hesitate to go to the RO or send an Iris Inquiry to check the status as well,  Good luck. 

[Gastone]

How much, if any, New & Material Evidence did you supply with your NOD Review Request? When exactly, did you supply the VA Mandatory N & M Evidence (required for all DRO Reviews & Hearings)?

Looking back at my DRO Hearing (06/28/2014), requested 11/2010, I'm sure some of the 4.25 yr wait was my own fault. I can tell you that I really didn't start getting concerned until early 2013. As of 01/14 I hadn't been able to get any info regarding my Hearing Date. I decided to file an Official Request for a VA DRO "Informal Evidence Conference." Other than a VA acknowledgment of the Request filing, never heard anything else prior to the VA Notice of my 06/14 Scheduled Hearing.

VA MMR doesn't show the specific number of pending DRO Reviews or Hearings, they're all lumped into the total number of Appeals.  Check with your VSO's RO HQ, how many DRO's does your RO have? If you don't meet the criteria for a "Medical or Financial Hardship Advancement," all you can do is sit and wait. The DRO's work the Appeals piles in the order received unless you get a Hardship Bump to the top of the stack.

Semper Fi

[armymp2017]

Good Morning Vets, Well I am 100% service connected. I have an appeal pending at the Montgomery, AL Regional Office. I Chose the DRO route. The VA received my claim on February 11, 2016. I'm still waiting as well. I am appealing the effective date on my appeal. I'm not sure how much longer this is going to take, but when I call the VA, they tell me that the average time for an appeal is about 314 days at my Regional Office. I'm well over that mark. I had a packed C-File and the VA hasn't asked for any additional office. Even though my C&P evaluation even said that I was diagnosed by the VA a couple of times prior to my last Diagnosis in 2015. I started receiving my 100% Service Connected Disability on January 1, 2016. I'm hoping that they will finish up and correct the effective date of which it should be when evidence of the disability was known to exist.

[Jimmy2tymes]

Appreciate the responses.  This feedback is really helpful.

Navyguy 2013 - Just curious, what Regional Office is working your NOD?

flores97 - Congratulations! Glad to hear it worked out for you.  So you actually visited the Regional Office in Winston Salem to check your status?  Did you they give you a hard time about showing up in person?

Gastone- Good info. Sorry to hear about the ridiculous delay.  Have you made any other progress since the hearing? Hope so because that's just a ridiculous amount of time. What RO is working your appeal?

I actually submitted a well written nexus letter as my N&M evidence.  I thought that I had enough evidence in my favor to win the initial claim, but in hindsight I should have included a nexus letter then, rather then waiting and submitting it with the NOD.   Not sure how many DROs are at the Roanoke RO, but I can tell you that there are total of 333 VA employees at that RO; and 215 of those folks process initial claims and 32 of them handle appeals. Not sure what the rest of the employees are doing. Probably not much.  

 

[Jimmy2tymes]

armymp2017- congrats on the 100% rating. Good luck on appealing for an earlier effective date. Just hang in there I'm sure it will work out for you.