Your first claim is more important than most veterans realize. It anchors your effective date, sets the record the VA will rely on, and shapes every appeal or increase that follows. Rushing it is expensive.
Step 1: Lock your date with an Intent to File
Filing an Intent to File preserves your effective date for up to a year while you gather evidence. That protected date can mean thousands of dollars in back pay.
Step 2: List every condition — and its secondaries
Claim each condition by name, and think about what each one caused. Under 38 CFR § 3.310, a service-connected condition that causes another (sleep apnea from PTSD, depression from chronic pain) opens a secondary claim.
Step 3: Build the evidence before you file
A current diagnosis, service records showing the event, and a nexus opinion turn a claim from a coin flip into a decision the VA cannot easily deny. File when the file is ready — not before.