June 2025 - Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit

Deal v. Collins, (21-6401) | Decided on June 27, 2025

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) held that the VA’s delay in addressing whether evidence submitted during the appeal period of a prior claim is new and material under 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(b) does not automatically entitle the claimant to the benefit of an earlier date of application for purposes of determining an effective date.

The Federal Circuit reiterated that if VA has not yet provided a responsive determination on whether a record submitted within the relevant period is new and material under § 3.156(b), the proper course of action is for the claim to be remanded for the VA to make such a determination. The Court clarified that under Bond v. Shinseki and Beraud v. McDonald, the claim waiting such a responsive determination remains “open” for the limited purpose of requiring VA to make the responsive determination; only if VA finds the evidence to be new and material is the evidence treated as having been filed in connection with the prior claim.