To be eligible for most VA benefits the individual must be a Veteran or in some circumstances, the survivor or the dependent of a Veteran. By statute, a Veteran is defined as a "person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable."

In evaluating the evidence to determine whether the individual is a Veteran for the purposes of VA benefits, the VA relies upon military service records. The VA is bound by information provided in the military discharge documents.

Records may include a complete original military service record: a copy issued by the military service with the certification that it is a true document; or a copy submitted by an accredited agent, attorney, or service representative with special training, who certifies that it is a copy of an original military service document or a copy of a copy of such a document. The service discharge document must contain data reflecting the length, time, and character of the service. If the individual does not provide the requested documentation or other evidence, or the submitted documentation does not meet the requirements, the VA will seek to verify the individual's military service directly from the appropriate military service branch.

An individual must have "active military, naval, or air service" to be considered a Veteran for most VA benefits. Keep in mind not all types of service are considered active militia service for his purpose.

In general, active service means full-time service, other than active duty for training, as a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, as a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service, or as a commissioned officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or its predecessors.

Active service also includes a period of active duty for training during which the person was disabled or died from an injury or disease incurred or aggravated in the line of duty. It also includes any period of inactive duty for training during which the person was disabled or died from an injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty or from certain health conditions incurred during the training.

The determination of whether an individual has met the active service requirement may not be a simple process. The individual and the VA may have to scrutinize the individual's service records to determine whether the individual's service fits into one of the many categories of active service, or whether an exception has been made for his or her service, so that it is considered to be active service for the purposes of Veterans' benefits. In addition, an individual may have more than one period of service, which may further complicate the determination.

For people who enlisted prior to 8 September 1980 no minimum length of service is necessary to be considered a Veteran for most VA benefits. However, certain minimum length of service requirements applies to people who enlisted on or after 8 September 1980. The general requirement is the "full period" for which the service member was called or ordered to active duty or, if less, 24 months of continuous active duty.

Several exceptions exist to this rule. For example, service-connected disability compensation benefits are exempt from the length of service requirement. Thus, a Veteran with a disease or injury incurred during active service generally may receive service-connected compensation for that disability. Other exceptions to the minimum service requirements include claims for VA life insurance benefits, hardship discharges, and persons retired or separated from service because of a service-related disability.

If the former service member did not serve for the full period of active duty and served less than 24 months, and none of the statutory exceptions apply, then the veteran did not complete a minimum period of active duty and is "not eligible for any benefit under Title 38, United States Code or under any law administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs based on that period of active service."

The statutory definition of Veteran requires that the individual be discharged or released from military service "under conditions other than dishonorable." There are currently six types of discharges issued by the military services:

1. honorable discharge (HD)
2. discharge under honorable conditions (UHC) or general discharge (GD)
3. discharge under other than honorable conditions (UOTHC)
4. bad conduct discharge (BCD)
5. dishonorable discharge (DD)
6. uncharacterized (entry level - served fewer than 180 days)

The statutory definition of Veteran does not precisely match those five categories of the discharges, and the VA often determines on a case-by-case basis whether the individual's discharge qualifies as under conditions other than dishonorable. In most cases, the VA considers honorable discharges and discharges under honorable conditions to be conditions other than dishonorable and will usually qualify an individual as a veteran under the first step of the eligibility test, which usually qualifies a Veteran for most benefits.

Dishonorable and bad conduct discharges issued by general courts-martial may bar VA benefits. Under other than honorable conditions discharges must be reviewed for benefits by the VA. Veterans in prison and paroles may be eligible for certain VA benefits and must contact the VA to determine eligibility. VA benefits are not provided to any Veteran or dependent wanted for an outstanding felony warrant.

All miliary service is classified as either wartime or peacetime service. The type of service may affect eligibility for VA benefits. For example, only Veterans with wartime service qualify for Improved Pension, which pays benefits to low-income Veterans who are either elderly or nonservice-connected disabled Veterans.

Periods considered "wartime" for the purposes of Veterans' benefits are defined in law. Veterans who served during those periods are considered to have "served during wartime" by the VA, even if the service was not in a combat zone. Those time periods not designated by Congress as wartime are considered to be peacetime. If a Veteran served partly during wartime and partly during peacetime, the Veteran meets the wartime criteria if he or she served 90 consecutive days, at least one day of which offered during a period designated as wartime.

To be eligible for VA benefits, members of the National Guard and the reserve components must meet the same standards as other individuals. In many cases, they do not meet the active-duty standard or length-of-service standard and are therefore ineligible for VA benefits. Members of the National Guard and Reserves who are never activated for federal active-duty military service do not meet the active-duty requirement. National Guard and reserve members who are called to active duty and serve the full period for which they are called meet both the active service and length-of-duty requirements. National Guard and reserve members also qualify as Veterans for the purposes of VA benefits if they are disabled or die from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.

National Guard and reserve members may qualify as Veterans for the purpose of VA benefits under other circumstances, which adds to the complexity of the eligibility determination. For example, under certain conditions Guard and reserve members may be eligible for education benefits though the Post - 9/11 GI Bill and home loans from the VA. Eligibility under these special cases is usually determined by the VA after reviewing the individual service member's military service records. National Guard and reserve members who served over 20 years and retired from their perspective service have earned the right to be called veterans but still must meet the active-duty requirements set by law.