US Code

Public Law 119-83 (04/13/2026)

38 U.S.C. § 7266

Notice of appeal

(a)
section 7104(e) of this title 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 .
(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.

Pub. L. 100–687, div. A, title III, § 301(a)102 Stat. 4116 Pub. L. 102–40, title IV, § 402(b)(1)105 Stat. 238 Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(b)(1)105 Stat. 404 Pub. L. 103–446, title V, § 511(a)108 Stat. 4670 Pub. L. 105–368, title V, § 512(a)(1)112 Stat. 3341 Pub. L. 107–103, title V, § 507115 Stat. 997 Pub. L. 117–168, title VIII, § 807(a)(8)136 Stat. 1806 (Added , , , § 4066; renumbered § 7266 and amended , (d)(1), , , 239; , (2)(E), , , 405; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 117–1682022—Subsec. (a). substituted “issued” for “mailed”.

Pub. L. 107–1032001— 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.”

Pub. L. 105–3681998—Subsec. (a)(1). substituted “Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims” for “Court of Veterans Appeals”.

Pub. L. 103–446section 7104(e) of this title1994—Subsec. (a). 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 .”

Pub. L. 102–40, § 402(b)(1)section 4066 of this title1991—, renumbered as this section.

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

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

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1998 Amendment

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

Effective Date of 1994 Amendment

Pub. L. 103–446, title V, § 511(b)108 Stat. 4670

“The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [] 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.”
, , , provided that:

Rule of Construction

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

Interim Provision for Filing Notices of Appeal

Pub. L. 101–94, title II, § 202103 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.