Any veteran who made a claim for benefits to the VA AND that claim was processed, or open by virtue of having had a living beneficiary after about 1950. Note: Even files that are retrieved just for the VA to make a copy fall into this category. This can give rise to Civil War Pension File still being with the VA if any person requested the file from the VA in the last several decades.
Veterans who appear in Ancestry's Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2441/ are very likely to have a file that is still with the VA.
Files that were for a deceased veteran and had no activity after 1949, may have been transferred to the National Archives at St. Louis. See https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/frequently-requested and https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12280123
The Freedom of Information Act is the law that allows you to request information held by the US Federal government, subject to specific exemptions. One of those is privacy, which is what prevents the release of information for veterans who are still living. However, if a person is deceased, those privacy protections no longer apply and anyone can request a copy of the XC (Claims) File.
The best way to submit requests seem to be by fax. The fax number is (844) 531-7818 . Each request should be on its own page, as requests with multiple veterans on one page may cause delays with your request. https://faxzero.com/ allows you to send up to 3-page faxes for free, larger faxes can be sent for a nominal charge.
If the person was born less than 100 years ago make sure to include proof of death (death certificate, SSDI printout, photograph of gravestone.)
You can use the standard form available at https://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-20-10206-ARE.pdf or write a request that looks like the one below.
Include the Claims File Number if you already have one, otherwise that field can be omitted.
The VA will only accept signatures that are made in wet ink (or look like they were). Typed signatures are not accepted.
Sample Request
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act for the Claims File of a deceased veteran.
DATE OF REQUEST: September 6, 2024
Requestor:
James Smith
100 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10011
Telephone: (212) 555-6789
e-mail: myemail@domain.com
Deceased Veteran’s Information
Name: John Smith
Claims File Number: XC 722 487
Social Security Number: 900-00-1234
Date of Birth: 15 July 1877
Date of Death: 29 December 1963
Please provide a copy of the Veteran’s: Claims File (C-File)
Thank you.
Sincerely,
[Wet Ink Signature]
For Veterans who served in World War I or otherwise had active claims between 1917 and 1940: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2968245
For Veterans who served in World War II or the Korean War. Send an email to stl.archives@nara.gov . Provide a name and a birth date and ask for a copy of the VA Master Index Card for the veteran.
Claims numbers are not required to make a FOIA but including one increases your chance for success.
The Freedom of Information Act allows a US Federal Agency about a month and a half to respond to you (20 - 30 business days.) Due to resource constraints, requests almost always take longer than that. The first 100 pages and two hours of search time are free, meaning that there are almost never situations in which you should be assessed fees. Fees also generally cannot be charged if the agency does not respond within the statutory deadline.
The VA will usually send you a letter within 4 to 6 weeks confirming that they have located a file and that it will sent to you once it has undergone FOIA review. Several weeks after that you should receive a CD in the mail with the file.
In a large number of cases though, the VA does not wait for the file to be retrieved from the Federal Records Center, where they are stored, and then scanned. If you receive a response indicating that there are no records or that the records cannot be found, send an email to ogcfoiaappeals@va.gov with a copy of the response letter and say that you are appealing the results of the search and ask them to conduct a new search. You may also find that the VA forwards your request to the National Personnel Records Center. In that case, also contact the appeals office.
The appeals office is generally responsive. If there are records available they will reopen your request. If the file is truly missing, it may take some time for them to send you a letter confirming that.