C.F.R. » Title 38 » CHAPTER I—DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS › PART 1—GENERAL PROVISIONS

38 C.F.R. § 1.601

Qualifications for access

Read at: eCFRecfr.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov CasesGoogle Scholar

(a)(1) An applicant for access to VA IT systems for the purpose of providing representation or assisting in representation must be:

(i) A representative of a VA-recognized service organization who is accredited by VA under § 14.629(a) of this chapter through a service organization and whose service organization holds power of attorney for one or more claimants under § 14.631 of this chapter;

(ii) An attorney or agent who is accredited by VA under § 14.629(b) of this chapter and who:

(A) holds power of attorney for one or more claimants under § 14.631 of this chapter or

(B) is authorized to assist in the representation of one or more claimants as an associate attorney or agent employed by the same legal services office as the attorney or agent of record;

(iii) An unaccredited support-staff person, including a legal intern, law student, or paralegal, working under the direct supervision of an accredited attorney or agent who has been designated to provide representation to one or more claimants under § 14.631(a) of this chapter or an accredited representative of a VA-recognized service organization designated to provide representation to one or more claimants under § 14.631(a); or

(iv) An individual authorized by the General Counsel under § 14.630 of this chapter to represent, without VA accreditation, more than one claimant and holding power of attorney for one or more claimants under § 14.631 of this chapter.

(2) To qualify for access to VA IT systems, the applicant must comply with all security requirements deemed necessary by VA to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the data and VA IT systems, which may include passing a background suitability investigation for issuance of a personal identity verification badge.

(3) VA may deny access to VA IT systems if the requirements of paragraphs (a)(1) or (2) of this section are not met.

(b) The method of access, including security software and work-site location of the attorney, agent, representative of a VA-recognized service organization, affiliated support-staff person, or individual authorized by the General Counsel under § 14.630 of this chapter, must be approved in advance by VA.

(c) Each attorney, agent, representative of a VA-recognized service organization, affiliated support-staff person, or individual authorized by the General Counsel under § 14.630 of this chapter approved for access must complete, sign, and return a notice provided by VA. The notice will specify any applicable operational and security requirements for access, in addition to the applicable VA Rules of Behavior, and an acknowledgment that the breach of any of these requirements is grounds for revocation of access.

[87 FR 37749, June 24, 2022]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2016–2025 · leading case: Hezekiah Green, Jr. v. Robert A. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 281 (Vet. App. 2016).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Hezekiah Green, Jr. v. Robert A. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 281 (Vet. App. 2016). · cites it 4× “at 1 (quoting 38 C.F.R. § 1.601 (a) (2016)). Mr. Green further argued that the regulations do not give the Secretary discretion to impose, via internal policy, an additional accreditation requirement on attorneys before the Court.”
Military-Vets. Advocacy v. Sec'y of Vets. Affairs, 130 F.4th 965 (Fed. Cir. 2025). · cites it 6× “Specifically, MVA challenges the validity of 38 C.F.R. § 1.601 (a)(2), which requires users of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Information Technology (IT) systems to poten- tially pass “a background suitability investigation” (the Background Check Provision), and 38 C.”
Gerald A. Lechliter v. Denis McDonough (Vet. App. 2024). · cites it 3× “38 C.F.R. § 1.601 (a)(1), (2) (effective June 23, 2008, to July 24, 2022).”
Kenneth M. Carpenter & Robert v. Chisholm v. Denis McDonough (Vet. App. 2021). “38 C.F.R. § 1.601 (a) (2020). 6 Section 1.”
Kenneth M. Carpenter & Robert v. Chisholm v. Denis McDonough (Vet. App. 2021). “38 C.F.R. § 1.601 (a) (2021). Section 1.600(b)(1) provides that "VBA will grant access to its automated claimants' claims records from locations outside [r]egional [o]ffices .”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.