§7266. Notice of appeal

(a)(1) In order to obtain review by the Court of Veterans Appeals of a final decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, a person adversely affected by such decision shall file a notice of appeal with the Court within 120 days after the date on which notice of the decision is mailed pursuant to section 7104(e) of this title.

(2) An appellant shall file a notice of appeal under this section by delivering or mailing the notice to the Court.

(3) A notice of appeal shall be deemed to be received by the Court as follows:

(A) On the date of receipt by the Court, if the notice is delivered.

(B) On the date of the United States Postal Service postmark stamped on the cover in which the notice is posted, if the notice is properly addressed to the Court and is mailed.

(4) For a notice of appeal mailed to the Court to be deemed to be received under paragraph (3)(B) on a particular date, the United States Postal Service postmark on the cover in which the notice is posted must be legible. The Court shall determine the legibility of any such postmark and the Court's determination as to legibility shall be final and not subject to review by any other Court.

(b) The appellant shall also furnish the Secretary with a copy of such notice, but a failure to do so shall not constitute a failure of timely compliance with subsection (a) of this section.

(Added Pub. L. 100–687, div. A, title III, §301(a), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4116 , §4066; renumbered §7266 and amended Pub. L. 102–40, title IV, §402(b)(1), (d)(1), May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 238 , 239; Pub. L. 102–83, §4(b)(1), (2)(E), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 404 , 405; Pub. L. 103–446, title V, §511(a), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4670 .)

Amendments

1994-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–446 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: "In order to obtain review by the Court of Veterans Appeals of a final decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, a person adversely affected by that action must file a notice of appeal with the Court. Any such notice must be filed within 120 days after the date on which notice of the decision is mailed pursuant to section 7104(e) of this title."

1991-Pub. L. 102–40, §402(b)(1), renumbered section 4066 of this title as this section.

Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–40, §402(d)(1), substituted "7104(e)" for "4004(e)".

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–83, §4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted "Secretary" for "Administrator".

Effective Date of 1994 Amendment

Section 511(b) of Pub. L. 103–446 provided that: "The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 2, 1994] and shall apply to notices of appeal that are delivered or mailed to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals on or after that date."

Interim Provision for Filing Notices of Appeal

Pub. L. 101–94, title II, §202, Aug. 16, 1989, 103 Stat. 626 , provided that: "In the case of a person adversely affected by a final decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals that is made before the date on which the United States Court of Veterans Appeals has caused to be published in the Federal Register a notice by the Court that it has commenced operations, the period prescribed under section 4066 [now 7266] of title 38, United States Code, within which a notice of appeal must be filed with the Court shall be extended to the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date such notice is published, if the end of that period is later than the date that would otherwise be applicable under such section."

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 7264 of this title.