a. Formal The appellant may elect to have a formal hearing at any time during the Hearings appeal process. For more information on hearings, see M21-1, Part I, 4. Reference: The table below describes the stages in the appeal process. b. Overview of the Appeal Process Stage Who Is Action Reference Responsible 1 Appellant See M21-1, files an NOD in response to a Part I, 5.B. VA decision regarding his/her benefit claim, and elect either the DRO may review process or the traditional appellate review process. The September 2015 Note: version of VA Form 21-0958, includes Notice of Disagreement, new checkboxes for the appellant to elect either the DRO review process or the traditional appellate review process. Appellants may also choose to elect a particular appellate review process with the submission of valid NODs in other formats. 2 Intake See accepts the NOD if it does not Processing need further clarification, such M21-1, Part I, Center (IPC) as clarifying which issues are 5.B.3 and Appeals being appealed when a decision M21-1, Part I, development contains multiple issues 5.B.4 activity establishes a Veterans Appeal M21-1, Part I, Control and Locator System 5.B.5 (VACOLS) record M21-1, Part establishes an end product (EP) III, Subpart ii, 170 per steps in M21-1, Part 3.E.1 III, Subpart ii, 3.E.1.d, and M21-1, Part the election is only if not 1, 5.K, and received with the NOD, gives . the appellant the option to elect
a. Formal Hearings The appellant may elect to have a formal hearing at any time during the appeal process. Reference: For more information on hearings, see M21-1, Part I, 4. b. Overview of the Appeal Process The table below describes the stages in the appeal process. Stage Who Is Responsible Action Reference 1 Appellant files an NOD in response to a VA decision regarding his/her benefit claim, and may elect either the DRO review process or the traditional appellate review process. Note: The September 2015 version of VA Form 21-0958, Notice of Disagreement, includes new checkboxes for the appellant to elect either the DRO review process or the traditional appellate review process. Appellants may also choose to elect a particular appellate review process with the submission of valid NODs in other formats. See M21-1, Part I, 5.B. 2 Intake Processing Center (IPC) and Appeals development activity accepts the NOD if it does not need further clarification, such as clarifying which issues are being appealed when a decision contains multiple issues establishes a Veterans Appeal Control and Locator System (VACOLS) record establishes an end product (EP) 170 per steps in M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 3.E.1.d, and only if the election is not received with the NOD, gives the appellant the option to elect See M21-1, Part I, 5.B.3 M21-1, Part I, 5.B.4 M21-1, Part I, 5.B.5 M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 3.E.1 M21-1, Part 1, 5.K, and .