38 U.S.C. § 7266

Notice of appeal

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(a) In order to obtain review by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims of a final decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, a person adversely affected by such decision shall file a notice of appeal with the Court within 120 days after the date on which notice of the decision is issued pursuant to section 7104(e) of this title.(b) An appellant shall file a notice of appeal under this section by delivering or mailing the notice to the Court.(c) A notice of appeal shall be deemed to be received by the Court as follows:(1) On the date of receipt by the Court, if the notice is delivered.(2) On the date of the United States Postal Service postmark stamped on the cover in which the notice is posted, if the notice is properly addressed to the Court and is mailed.(d) For a notice of appeal mailed to the Court to be deemed to be received under subsection (c)(2) on a particular date, the United States Postal Service postmark on the cover in which the notice is posted must be legible. The Court shall determine the legibility of any such postmark and the Court’s determination as to legibility shall be final and not subject to review by any other Court.(Added Pub. L. 100–687, div. A, title III, § 301(a), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4116, § 4066; renumbered § 7266 and amended Pub. L. 102–40, title IV, § 402(b)(1), (d)(1), May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 238, 239; Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(b)(1), (2)(E), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 404, 405; Pub. L. 103–446, title V, § 511(a), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4670; Pub. L. 105–368, title V, § 512(a)(1), Nov. 11, 1998, 112 Stat. 3341; Pub. L. 107–103, title V, § 507, Dec. 27, 2001, 115 Stat. 997; Pub. L. 117–168, title VIII, § 807(a)(8), Aug. 10, 2022, 136 Stat. 1806.)Editorial NotesAmendments

2022—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 117–168 substituted “issued” for “mailed”.

2001—Pub. L. 107–103 struck out “(1)” before “In order to”, redesignated par. (2) of subsec. (a) as subsec. (b), redesignated par. (3) of subsec. (a) as subsec. (c) and subpars. (A) and (B) thereof as pars. (1) and (2), respectively, redesignated par. (4) of subsec. (a) as subsec. (d) and substituted “subsection (c)(2)” for “paragraph (3)(B)”, and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: “The appellant shall also furnish the Secretary with a copy of such notice, but a failure to do so shall not constitute a failure of timely compliance with subsection (a) of this section.”

1998—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 105–368 substituted “Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims” for “Court of Veterans Appeals”.

1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–446 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: “In order to obtain review by the Court of Veterans Appeals of a final decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, a person adversely affected by that action must file a notice of appeal with the Court. Any such notice must be filed within 120 days after the date on which notice of the decision is mailed pursuant to section 7104(e) of this title.”

1991—Pub. L. 102–40, § 402(b)(1), renumbered section 4066 of this title as this section.

Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–40, § 402(d)(1), substituted “7104(e)” for “4004(e)”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted “Secretary” for “Administrator”.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 1998 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 105–368 effective on first day of first month beginning more than 90 days after Nov. 11, 1998, see section 513 of Pub. L. 105–368, set out as a note under section 7251 of this title.

Effective Date of 1994 Amendment

Pub. L. 103–446, title V, § 511(b), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4670, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 2, 1994] and shall apply to notices of appeal that are delivered or mailed to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals [now United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims] on or after that date.”

Rule of Construction

Amendment by Pub. L. 117–168 not to be construed to apply section 5104(a) of this title to decisions of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals under chapter 71 of this title, see section 807(b) of Pub. L. 117–168, set out as a note under section 5100 of this title.

Interim Provision for Filing Notices of Appeal

Pub. L. 101–94, title II, § 202, Aug. 16, 1989, 103 Stat. 626, provided that in the case of a person adversely affected by a final decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals that was made before the date on which the United States Court of Veterans Appeals published in the Federal Register a notice by the Court that it had commenced operations, the period prescribed under this section within which a notice of appeal had to be filed with the Court was to be extended to the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date such notice was published, if the end of that period was later than the date that would otherwise be applicable under this section.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 499 cases (41 in the last 5 years), 1991–2026 · leading case: Henderson v. Shinseki, 589 F.3d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 2009).

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Henderson v. Shinseki, 589 F.3d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 2009). · cites it 21× “It involves 38 U.S.C. § 7266 (a). Pursuant to that statute, a veteran may appeal a final decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (“Board”) to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Veterans Court”) within 120 days after the date on which notice of the…”

Oliver L. Jaquay, Claimant-Appellant v. Anthony J. Principi, Sec'y of Vets. Affairs, 304 F.3d 1276 (Fed. Cir. 2002). · cites it 15× “Throughout a series of orders directing the parties to brief the issue of the Veterans Court’s jurisdiction in the case, Jaquay argued that (1) the VARO should have forwarded his motion for reconsideration to the BVA and (2) any time limits should have been tolled in light of…”

Larry G. Tyrues v. Eric K. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 166 (Vet. App. 2009). · cites it 12× “This is because, in either case, the 1998 Board decision was a final decision, and the appellant failed to file an NOA with the Court within 120 days after notice of the mailing of that decision, as required under 38 U.”

Kwai Wong v. David Beebe, 732 F.3d 1030 (9th Cir. 2013). · cites it 8× “As the issue here pertains to a statute of limitations, the Court’s recent decisions applying the “clear statement” rule to statutory time limits are particularly instructive.”

Henderson v. Shinseki, 131 S. Ct. 1197 (2011). · cites it 4× “38 U. S. C. § 7266 (a). This case presents the question whether a veteran’s failure to file a notice of appeal within the 120-day period should be regarded as having “jurisdictional” consequences.”

Rios-Collins v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 104 (Vet. App. 2006). · cites it 45× “GREENE, Chief Judge: Before the Court is the question whether, under 38 U.S.C. § 7266 (c) Rafael G. Rios and Johnnie Collins timely filed Notices of Appeal (NOAs).”

William Rickett v. Eric K. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 210 (Vet. App. 2013). · cites it 30× “See 38 U.S.C. § 7266 (a) (NOA must be filed within 120 days of Board decision).”

Milton Santana-Venegas, Claimant-Appellant v. Anthony J. Principi, Sec'y of Vets. Affairs, 314 F.3d 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2002). · cites it 11× “Santana Venegas filed his response, claiming, among other things, that the appeal was mistakenly sent to the VARO without his knowledge.”

Tyrues v. Shinseki, 732 F.3d 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2013). · cites it 15× “Tyrues asked the Veter- ans Court to review both the April 2004 denial under section 1117 and the September 1998 denial under section 1110. The Veterans Court dismissed the part of his appeal that challenged the September 1998 Board deci- sion, ruling that Mr.”

Sneed v. Shinseki, 737 F.3d 719 (Fed. Cir. 2013). · cites it 9× “See 38 U.S.C. § 7266 (a) (“[A] person adversely affected by [a Board] decision shall file a notice of appeal with the [Veterans Court] within 120 days after the date on which notice of the decision is mailed .”

Harold E. Bailey, Claimant-Appellant v. Togo D. West, Jr., Sec'y of Vets. Affairs, 160 F.3d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 1998). · cites it 8× “This decision contains the following notice of appellate rights: Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7266 , a decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals granting less than the complete benefit, or benefits, sought on appeal is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals within 120…”

William C. Rickett v. Eric K. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 366 (Vet. App. 2010). · cites it 28× “The Secretary averred that the correspondence was forwarded to the Waco, Texas, VA regional office where it was received on February 19, 2009, but no further action was taken. Id. The Secretary argued that the agency's receipt of Mr.”

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— 38 U.S.C. § 7266(a) — 4 cases

Milton Santana-Venegas, Claimant-Appellant v. Anthony J. Principi, Sec'y of Vets. Affairs, 314 F.3d 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2002). “Santana Venegas filed his response, claiming, among other things, that the appeal was mistakenly sent to the VARO without his knowledge.”

Jonathan D. Fithian v. Eric K. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 146 (Vet. App. 2010).

McNaron v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 61 (Vet. App. 1997).

Collins v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2026).

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