exhibit: letter. Change Date January 15, 2016 VA’s VA assists claimants in establishing entitlement to benefits by making a. reasonable efforts to obtain evidence needed to support a claim, whether that Responsibility to Assist evidence is held by a Federal or non-Federal entity. Claimants in Obtaining For additional information on References: Evidence VA’s duty to assist, see assisting with Federal records, see M21-1, Part I, 1.C.1, and assisting with non-Federal records or private records, see M21-1, Part I, 1.C.2. b. Standard The table below describes the standard procedure for requesting records from Procedure for a Federal entity. This includes records in the custody of Requesting Records From service departments a Federal the Social Security Administration (SSA) Entity the Office of Workers’ Compensation Vet Centers, and VA medical center (VAMC) records through the inaccessible Compensation and Pension Record Exchange (CAPRI) as defined in Part III, Subpart iii, 1.C.4.a. The procedure described in the table below is for application Exception: not in the situations described in M21-1, Part III, Subpart iii, 1.C.2.c. Important: The procedure described in the table below represents the efforts minimum VA must make in order to comply with the duty-to-assist requirements in . If there is a reasonable expectation that development actions beyond those described in the table below could result in the procurement of records to support a pending claim, such additional actions should be taken. If VA obtains the records at any point in this procedure stop taking the steps described in the table below, and decide the as soon as all other development actions are complete. Requests for records held by a Federal entity require priority handling under the circumstances described in M21-1, Part III, Subpart iii, 2.I.1. When priority handling is required, flag the corresponding claims folder at the development stage. Step Action 1 Send a request for Federal records to the appropriate records custodian. Ask the custodian to respond within 30 days.
exhibit: letter. Change Date January 15, 2016 a. VA’s Responsibility to Assist Claimants in Obtaining Evidence VA assists claimants in establishing entitlement to benefits by making reasonable efforts to obtain evidence needed to support a claim, whether that evidence is held by a Federal or non-Federal entity. References: For additional information on VA’s duty to assist, see assisting with Federal records, see M21-1, Part I, 1.C.1, and assisting with non-Federal records or private records, see M21-1, Part I, 1.C.2. b. Standard Procedure for Requesting Records From a Federal Entity The table below describes the standard procedure for requesting records from a Federal entity. This includes records in the custody of service departments the Social Security Administration (SSA) the Office of Workers’ Compensation Vet Centers, and VA medical center (VAMC) records inaccessible through the Compensation and Pension Record Exchange (CAPRI) as defined in Part III, Subpart iii, 1.C.4.a. Exception: The procedure described in the table below is not for application in the situations described in M21-1, Part III, Subpart iii, 1.C.2.c. Important: The procedure described in the table below represents the minimum efforts VA must make in order to comply with the duty-to-assist requirements in . If there is a reasonable expectation that development actions beyond those described in the table below could result in the procurement of records to support a pending claim, such additional actions should be taken. If VA obtains the records at any point in this procedure stop taking the steps described in the table below, and decide the as soon as all other development actions are complete. Requests for records held by a Federal entity require priority handling under the circumstances described in M21-1, Part III, Subpart iii, 2.I.1. When priority handling is required, flag the corresponding claims folder at the development stage. Step Action 1 Send a request for Federal records to the appropriate records custodian. Ask the custodian to respond within 30 days.
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