Filing your first claim within 1 year of separation gets your effective date set to the day after discharge — not the date you filed. Combined with Intent to File, this is the single biggest opportunity for transitioning service members.
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The 1-year post-discharge window
Deadline. The single biggest missed opportunity for transitioning service members: if you file your initial claim within ONE YEAR of separation, your effective date is the DAY AFTER discharge — not the date you filed. Miss the one-year window and the effective date becomes whatever date the claim was received.
Why this matters
Combined with the Intent to File option, this means an active-duty service member who files an ITF in their final month, then their formal claim within a year of discharge, gets an effective date the day after they left active service. Years later, if a condition is found to have existed and worsened since service, all the back pay flows to that original date.
The process for transitioning service members
- 180 days before separation: enroll in the BDD or Quick Start program for pre-discharge claim processing. This gets your claim decided faster.
- Within 90 days of separation if BDD not used: file Form 21-0966 (Intent to File) to lock the effective date.
- Within 1 year of separation: file the formal 21-526EZ. Effective date = day after discharge.
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