File for VA benefits before you leave active duty.

No. Seeking mental health care is a proactive step that protects your career. Under Security Executive Agent Directive 4 (SEAD 4), seeking counseling is encouraged and is not by itself disqualifying for a clearance. Leaving a condition untreated is the actual risk to your clearance and your readiness.

The mental health question on the SF-86 was rewritten to remove the stigma around routine care. Counseling strictly related to service in a combat environment, to marital or family matters, or to grief and bereavement does not have to be reported. Reporting is required only for specific circumstances such as court-ordered treatment, hospitalization, or a narrow set of clinical diagnoses.

Between 180 and 90 days before your official separation or retirement date. There are no waivers or extensions. A claim submitted one day late — 89 days or fewer before discharge — is automatically disqualified from BDD fast-track routing.

You are no longer eligible for the BDD fast track. You can still file before you separate, but the claim converts to a Fully Developed Claim or a Standard Claim and is processed after discharge.

Because these claims lose BDD priority, the VA generally will not schedule Compensation and Pension exams until after you have separated, which typically delays your first payment by several months.

• Fully Developed Claim. You submit all the evidence upfront, including private medical records and complete Service Treatment Records. Faster than a standard claim, but still subject to normal VA processing times.
• Standard Claim. The VA must help you gather evidence and retrieve service records, which adds significant processing time.

The SHA Part A is a comprehensive self-assessment of your medical history and is required for BDD eligibility. To avoid delays, complete it, sign it, and upload it at the same time as your initial claim (VA Form 21-526EZ). Three ways to get it:

• Download it (recommended). The interactive PDF is available from the VA.gov pre-discharge claims portal or the VA benefits DBQ page.
• During online filing. VA.gov gives you a direct download link at the supporting-documents step.
• Through a representative. A VA Military Services Coordinator or accredited Veterans Service Officer can provide a copy and upload it to your file.

Partly. The VA has a duty to assist and will coordinate with DoW to obtain your Service Treatment Record, and you may also provide it directly if you can. But if you received care outside DoW or VA, the VA may not be able to obtain those records for you — you will need to supply them. This is why it matters to visit the clinic before you transition, so a complete record exists in the first place.

You must remain fully available to attend VA compensation and pension exams for the 45 days immediately following your claim submission. Command teams and NCO leadership are expected to provide the operational flexibility for you to make those appointments.

Service members stationed outside the continental United States must still attend all scheduled exams to keep BDD priority processing. VA coordinates exam services in more than 140 countries using local in-person exams, telehealth, and traveling providers. A local provider is not always available, so some members need to travel to complete the exam.

A claim is routed to standard processing if any of the following apply:

• A new condition, illness, or injury is added fewer than 90 days before discharge.
• The claim requires special case management — for example very seriously injured or ill members, or cases involving the loss of a body part.
• You are actively enrolled in the Integrated Disability Evaluation System.
• The claim involves a terminally ill service member.