Usps Certified Priority Mail

[Wings]

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The AMC gave me 30 days to send additional comments and/or evidence to their Rating Decision (denial). I had written a 5 page "Rebuttal", but decided instead, that I'd sooner send a formal Notice of Disagreement (NOD). SO I changed the subjject from Rebuttal to NOD ...

At the US Post Office, I sent 2, letter sized envelopes (pre-made by the USPS).

The first copy I addressed to the AMC; the second copy to the BVA.

I paid for both: Prioroty Mail and Certified mail, which was supposed to get there in 2-3 days! It's been 8 days, and counting!

I'm really glad I decided to send the NOD, rather than the rebuttal, because the 30 day limitation was up as of yesterday!

Now the question: what are the VA Regulations on filing deadlines or statute of limitations? If I have proof of mailing within that time frame, does it count? What if the Post Office doesn't get my package there on time, but I have proof I mailed early???? ~Wings

[Boats]

Wings,

Did you get a tracking number from usps? That is what I have done and track it on there website should show detals where it is.

Boats

[Testvet]

I would keep the proof of mailing very safe given that you sent it 5 days early and the Post Office promises 2-3 day delivery of Priority mail it proves to the powers that be that you did all that you could in good faith

haven siad that as I worked at the Post Office for almost 20 years all it proves is that you mailed something on that day, what was in the envelope and what the BVA and AMC claim they received comes down to whomever is listening to your complaint

I don't know where you live but many vets live to far from the VARO to hand deliver and get date stamped copies, however there are Kinkos everyplace and faxes are proof of sent and receipt if you can go to your congress persons office or senators office in your area and have them fax them to the BVA and AMC then that is proof it was sent and received

I spent 20 years at the Post Office and even I only believe in round dated copies of the actual filings the one paper the VA is using to say I signed it and they claim I waived my rights to all other medical issues in exchange for the 100% P&T for PTSD is a lie and a forgery they dated it Dec 7, 2005 sorry as a vet who handles my own paperwork I would never go to the VARO on a Wednesday to see the DAV rep to file anything on Wednesdays they are not available as they are doing BVA hearings all day and Fridays they see no veterans as they claim they are catching up on paperwork from the other days

The paper they claim I signed on Dec 7 2005 does not have a round date on the front as all my other forms have and they won't show me the original and a blank page has a round date of Dec 7 2005 I can set a round date to any day I want if I have access to it but I don't they are very controlled stamps even at the Post Office clerks that have them keep them locked up unless they are actually using them

I would start using faxes if possible wish I had better ideas for you but then again I was using direct deposit for my paychecks even at the Post Office they lose to much mail and the paychecks used to come from Indianapolis to PO all across the country lost those mail sacks and I can show you some pizzed off postal workers my checks were Direct deposit long before the government started asking people to do it. The post office can lose anything

[Wings]

Wings,

Did you get a tracking number from usps? That is what I have done and track it on there website should show detals where it is.

Boats

I sent both "Priority Mail" with "Certified Receipt".

I did get a Tracking Number, but for this type of mailing, the tracking will only show that is was delivered, and NOT show the location on route. They say, to do that, I would have had to send it some other way, good griief!

I spent $20.oo to have it delivered in 2-3 days! It's been 8 days!

[Boats]

Wings,

Yes I know spent about $20 myself, in the last month. I only sent priority with delivery confirmation. Took them about 5 days but it showed they recieved it.

The hassles we have to go through, then when I call and see if they have it in the system. It does not show up after 45 days...

[Wings]

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What makes me really angry, is those cases at the Court where mailing deadlines have caused the veteran to lose the case! And, it's the VA's fault! Expecting the veteran to file a response in 30 days from across the country, when she didn't get the Decison until after a week had passed on route, in the US Mail, but the VA can take YEARS to Decide .... There should be some new rules for filing responses! Anyway, since this has become a formal NOD, I have a year. However, I did not want to lose my place on the BVA Docket, and had it been there on time, it might have been filed within that 30 day window ... Oh heck! Here's some of the "rules":

38 CFR 20.302

Rule 302. Time limit for filing Notice of Disagreement, Substantive Appeal, and response to Supplemental Statement of the Case.

(a) Notice of Disagreement. Except in the case of simultaneously contested claims, a claimant, or his or her representative, must file a Notice of Disagreement with a determination by the agency of original jurisdiction within one year from the date that that agency mails notice of the determination to him or her. Otherwise, that determination will become final. The date of mailing the letter of notification of the determination will be presumed to be the same as the date of that letter for purposes of determining whether an appeal has been timely filed (Authority: 38 USC 7105(B)(1)).

(B) Substantive Appeal.

(1) General. Except in the case of simultaneously contested claims, a Substantive Appeal must be filed within 60 days from the date that the agency of original jurisdiction mails the Statement of the Case to the appellant, or within the remainder of the 1-year period from the date of mailing of the notification of the determination being appealed, whichever period ends later. The date of mailing of the Statement of the Case will be presumed to be the same as the date of the Statement of the Case and the date of mailing the letter of notification of the determination will be presumed to be the same as the date of that letter for purposes of determining whether an appeal has been timely filed.

(2) Special rule in certain cases where additional evidence is submitted. Except in the case of simultaneously contested claims, if (i) a claimant submits additional evidence within 1 year of the date of mailing of the notification of the determination being appealed, and (ii) that evidence requires, in accordance with §19.31 of this title, that the claimant be furnished a Supplemental Statement of the Case, then the time to submit a Substantive Appeal shall end not sooner than 60 days after such Supplemental Statement of the Case is mailed to the appellant, even if the 60-day period extends beyond the expiration of the 1-year appeal period (Authority 38 USC 7105 (B)(1),(d)(3)).

( c) Response to Supplemental Statement of the Case. Where a Supplemental Statement of the Case is furnished, a period of 30 days from the date of mailing of the Supplemental Statement of the Case will be allowed for response. The date of mailing of the Supplemental Statement of the Case will be presumed to be the same as the date of the Supplemental Statement of the Case for purposes of determining whether a response has been timely filed. Provided a Substantive Appeal has been timely filed in accordance with paragraph (B) of this section, the response to a Supplemental Statement of the Case is optional and is not required for the perfection of an appeal (Authority 38 USC 7105(d)(3).)

38 CFR 20.305

Rule 305. Computation of time limit for filing.

(a) Acceptance of postmark date. When these Rules require that any written document be filed within a specified period of time, a response postmarked prior to expiration of the applicable time limit will be accepted as having been timely filed. In the event that the postmark is not of record, the postmark date will be presumed to be five days prior to the date of receipt of the document by the Department of Veterans Affairs. In calculating this 5-day period, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays will be excluded.

(B) Computation of time limit. In computing the time limit for filing a written document, the first day of the specified period will be excluded and the last day included. Where the time limit would expire on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the next succeeding workday will be included in the computation (Authority 38 USC 7105).

38 CFR 20.900

Rule 900. Order of consideration of appeals.

(a) Docketing of appeals. Applications for review on appeal are docketed in the order in which they are received. Cases returned to the Board following action pursuant to a remand assume their original places on the docket.

(B) Appeals considered in docket order. Except as otherwise provided in this Rule, appeals are considered in the order in which they are entered on the docket.

( c) Advancement on the docket (see 38 CFR 20.900©).

38 CFR 20.904

Rule 904. Vacating a decision.

An appellate decision may be vacated by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals at any time upon request of the appellant or his or her representative, or on the Board’s own motion, on the following grounds:

(a) Denial of due process. Examples of circumstances in which denial of due process of law will be conceded are:

(1) When the appellant was denied his or her right to representation through action or inaction by Department of Veterans Affairs or Board of Veterans’ Appeals personnel,

(2) When a Statement of the Case or required Supplemental Statement of the Case was not provided, and

(3) When there was a prejudicial failure to afford the appellant a personal hearing. (Where there was a failure to honor a request for a hearing and a hearing is subsequently scheduled, but the appellant fails to appear, the decision will not be vacated.)

(B) Allowance of benefits based on false or fraudulent evidence. Where it is determined on reconsideration that an allowance of benefits by the Board has been materially influenced by false or fraudulent evidence submitted by or on behalf of the appellant, the prior decision will be vacated only with respect to the issue or issues to which, within the judgment of the Board, the false or fraudulent evidence was material (Authority 38 USC 7104(a)).

Edited February 12, 2009 by Wings

[Wings]

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The craziness of THEM!!! (example):

The question before the Court is whether the appellant has filed a

timely Notice of Appeal (NOA) so as to give the Court jurisdiction over

this appeal.

On September 27, 2001, the Court received both the original and a

photocopy of the then-pro se appellant's NOA from a May 25, 2001, Board of

Veterans' Appeals (BVA or Board) decision.

The photocopied NOA, according to the Clerk of the Court (Clerk),

was received in the morning of September 27, 2001, from the

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of

the General Counsel (GC) (a fact that was noted on that document);

was stamped as the "original" because it was the only NOA in the Court's

Public Office (PO) at that time; and provided the basis for opening the PO

case file and docket.

According to the Clerk, the second NOA received was

the original (although it was stamped as a "copy" because it was received

after the case had been opened in the morning of September 27, 2001) and

was filed in the PO case file;

however, the cover in which it was received

was mistakenly not retained for filing in the PO file.

The PO daily incoming mail log for September 27, 2001, shows receipt,

inter alia, on that date of an NOA for this case. According to the Clerk,

this log entry recorded receipt of the second NOA [hereinafter referred to as the

original NOA] received that day because copies received from the VAGC are

not recorded on that log.

According to the Clerk, upon investigation he has determined that the

envelope that had contained the original NOA mistakenly was discarded by a

(VA) PO staff member. Both the original NOA and the photocopy were stamped

received on September 27, 2001. If filed on September 27, 2001, an NOA

would be untimely as to the BVA decision of which review is sought in this

case. See 38 U.S.C. 7266; U.S. Vet. App. R. 4(a).

The Court's PO file also contains a certified mail receipt from the U.

S. Postal Service (USPS) showing a mailing to "Clerk, US Court of Appeals

for Veterans Claims[,] 625 Indiana Ave NW Suite 900[,] Washington, DC

20004", the Court's correct address; that certified mail receipt bears a

date- stamp notation that the mailing occurred on September 22, 2001.

Furthermore, the PO file contains

a return-receipt card acknowledging the Court's receipt of the item

mailed.

The appellant on January 14, 2002, submitted via facsimile that

certified mail receipt and return-receipt card to the Court and later

resubmitted those documents, through counsel, as part of an exhibit

attached to a March 1, 2002, pleading.

According to the Clerk, the return-

receipt card bears, in the "received" box, the signature of a member of

the Court's PO staff accepting receipt of the mailed item for the Court on

September 27, 2001.

The Court's PO file also contains a USPS sales

receipt that itemizes the postage cost for two separate mailings and is

time-stamped 11:04:01 AM and dated September 22, 2001.

The sales receipt

indicates that two items were mailed via certified mail on that date. One

item is identified as certified mailing number 70010320000127225743 (the

envelope addressed to VAGC also bears that number), and another item is

identified as certified mailing number 70010320000127225729, which is the

same number found on the certified mail receipt bearing the Court's

address and on the return-receipt card signed by a member of the Court's

PO staff.

http://search.vetapp.gov/isysquery/690450d...a822cfc6/2/doc/