Filing a Camp Lejeune Claim

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This is general education, not legal or claims advice, and not guidance for your specific claim. It cannot promise you a rating or an outcome, and no one can. For help with your own claim, see a free accredited representative (see Get free, accredited help below). Nothing here creates a representative relationship.

Current as of October 2026. Rules, forms, and figures change. Check current details at va.gov.

The best way to use this guide

The strongest position is to be your own informed advocate and to work with a free accredited representative. An accredited Veterans Service Organization, such as the DAV, VFW, American Legion, or a county or state veterans office, helps at no charge. Accredited claims agents and attorneys can help too. They can't charge for work done before VA issues its initial decision on your claim, and after that they may charge a fee within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. This guide is here so you understand your own situation and can work with them as a full partner instead of handing it over blind. If you'd rather handle this yourself, and you're comfortable doing that, the guide walks you through every step. Either way, you stay in control.

What you'll get done

The outcome: By the end of this guide you'll have filed a complete Camp Lejeune presumptive disability claim on VA Form 21-526EZ, and you'll know how the separate health care, family, and Camp Lejeune Justice Act tracks fit around it.

This guide prepares you for the task. It doesn't and can't promise a rating, a percentage, or an outcome. The evidence in your file decides the result.

What you need before you start

• A way to get on VA.gov, or VA's main number, 1-800-827-1000.
• Military records showing at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987.
• Medical records showing your diagnosis and its date.
• For family members: proof of relationship and of living on the base for at least 30 days between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, for the Family Member Program.
• Your VA file number, if you have one.

When to start: Today. An Intent to File holds your potential start date for one year while you gather the rest.

Start here: the basics

From August 1, 1953 through December 31, 1987, the drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, was contaminated with industrial solvents and benzene. Veterans, former Reservists, and former National Guard members who served there at least 30 days in that window (the days don't have to be in a row) are presumed exposed. VA presumes eight conditions are connected to that service: adult leukemia, aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and Parkinson's disease. With one of these, you don't have to prove what caused it. VA health care, the family program, and the Camp Lejeune Justice Act are separate tracks. None of them replaces a VA disability claim.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR §§ 3.307(a)(7) and 3.309(f).

The steps

Step 1. Confirm you meet the service requirement.

How. VA needs at least 30 days, in a row or added up, at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987, shown by military orders or other official records. Your discharge must be under conditions other than dishonorable, as VA decides it, to get VA disability compensation. Pull the records that prove your dates and location.

If your records show the place and dates, then flag those pages. If they're incomplete, then ask for your full personnel file and add orders, unit records, or housing records. A free accredited representative can help.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.307(a)(7)(iii); 38 CFR § 3.12.

Done when you have records showing at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River in the window.

Step 2. Check your diagnosis against the eight conditions.

How. Gather the medical records that show your diagnosis and its date, and compare it to the eight listed conditions.

If your condition is one of the eight, then you can file it as presumptive and don't need to prove cause. If you believe the water caused a condition that isn't on the list, then you can still file it directly, but you'll need medical evidence linking it to the exposure. Take that one to a free accredited representative.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.309(f); 38 CFR § 3.303(d).

Done when you know whether each condition is on the list or needs the direct route.

Step 3. File an Intent to File, then VA Form 21-526EZ.

How. Start with an Intent to File at va.gov/resources/your-intent-to-file-a-va-claim, by phone, or on VA Form 21-0966. Then fill out VA Form 21-526EZ, the Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits. Name each condition and say plainly that you're claiming it based on Camp Lejeune water exposure.

Do not leave out that this is a Camp Lejeune claim. Saying so tells VA which presumption to check your records against.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.155(b).

Done when your Intent to File is saved and your 21-526EZ names each condition as a Camp Lejeune claim.

Step 4. Attach your service and medical evidence.

How. Include the military records that show your 30 days and the medical records that show your diagnosis and its date. Put your name and VA file number on every page.

Done when your service proof and your diagnosis proof are both in the package.

Step 5. Know the other Camp Lejeune tracks.

How. Three other tracks exist, and none of them replaces your VA disability claim. VA health care: veterans who meet the service rule can enroll and pay no copay for care for any of 15 covered conditions. The Family Member Program: family members who lived on base can get help paying for care for those conditions, using VA Form 10-10068, the Camp Lejeune Family Member Program Application. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act: a lawsuit for money damages, which starts with a claim to the Department of the Navy, not VA.

If you're a family member who lived on base, then look at the Family Member Program. If you're thinking about the Justice Act, then know the deadline. The law bars starting a case after the later of August 10, 2024 or 180 days after the Navy denies a claim. Any award is also reduced by VA benefits paid for the same harm. Talk to a licensed attorney about whether any path is still open. Your VA claim stays free and separate.

Where this is written down: Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, Pub. L. 117-168, § 804(e) and (j); 38 U.S.C. § 1710(e)(1)(F) and § 1787.

Done when you know which track fits your situation and that your VA claim stands on its own.

Step 6. Send one organized package and keep proof.

How. Put the 21-526EZ, your service records, and medical records together with a short cover page listing what's inside. File online at va.gov/disability/file-disability-claim-form-21-526ez and save the confirmation. Or mail it to: Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444, with tracking.

Done when your package is sent and you have a dated confirmation or tracking receipt.

Step 7. Confirm VA got everything, and know your options after a denial.

How. About 10 days after you file, check va.gov/claim-or-appeal-status or call 1-800-827-1000. Make sure the claim shows as received and each document is in the file. If VA schedules an exam, go, or call ahead to reschedule.

If VA denied a Camp Lejeune condition before it was added to the list, then file a Supplemental Claim on VA Form 20-0995, the Decision Review Request: Supplemental Claim. VA's website says an Intent to File can hold your date for a Supplemental Claim, but the regulation says its Intent to File rule doesn't apply to Supplemental Claims. Don't count on it. Send VA Form 20-0995 itself as soon as you can.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR §§ 3.155, 3.2501 and 3.655(b).

Done when you've confirmed your documents are on file and know your next move if a condition was denied.

Recap checklist

• Confirmed at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River in the 1953 to 1987 window.
• Checked my diagnosis against the eight conditions, or planned a direct claim if it isn't listed.
• Filed an Intent to File and a 21-526EZ naming each condition as a Camp Lejeune claim.
• Attached my service proof and my diagnosis.
• Noted which other track (health care, family program, or Justice Act) applies to me.
• Sent one organized package and kept proof.
• Confirmed my documents are on file and know my options after a denial.

Reminder: rules and rates change. Check any current figure at va.gov. Help from an accredited Veterans Service Organization is free. Accredited claims agents and attorneys can't charge for work done before VA issues its initial decision on your claim. After that, they may charge a fee within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. This guide prepared you for the task. The evidence in your file decides the result.

Go further

• The book: The PACT Act Playbook, the full guide this one comes from. Coming soon as a PDF on this site and in Kindle and paperback on Amazon.
• The workbook: The PACT Act Toxic Exposure Claim Workbook, a fillable PDF. Coming soon.
• Free toolkit: the worksheets that go with The PACT Act Playbook. No signup.

Get free, accredited help

For anything about your own claim, talk to an accredited representative. Help from an accredited Veterans Service Organization is free. Accredited claims agents and attorneys can't charge for work done before VA issues its initial decision on your claim. After that, they may charge a fee within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. Free help is available through Veterans Service Organizations such as the DAV, VFW, and American Legion, and through county and state veterans offices.

To find one near you, visit va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative. Representation begins only when you sign VA Form 21-22 (for a Veterans Service Organization) or 21-22a (for an individual agent or attorney). With one rare exception for a single unpaid case, only accredited people can represent you before the VA, and only an accredited agent or attorney can charge you a fee. Nothing in this guide creates that relationship.

A warning about claim sharks. Anyone who offers to file your initial claim for a fee, or who guarantees you a rating or a percentage, is selling something you shouldn't buy. Accredited Veterans Service Organizations help at no charge, and accredited claims agents and attorneys may charge only after VA issues its initial decision, within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. Report predatory companies to the VA Office of Inspector General at 1-800-488-8244.

About this guide

This guide is education, not representation. It explains how part of the VA system works so you can handle your own business with confidence. It is not legal or claims advice, and reading it does not create any representative relationship between you and the author. The author is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and nothing here is endorsed by the VA.

This guide prints no live VA dollar figures and no rating percentages on purpose, because they change. Before you make a decision based on any number, check the current figure at va.gov. No book can promise you a rating; the evidence in your file decides the result. Help from an accredited Veterans Service Officer is always free.

Details

• PDF, US Letter, 8 pages including the cover
• 12 fillable checkboxes
• Current as of October 2026

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Never a cut of your claim.

About the author: J. Erickson is a service-disabled Air Force veteran. He served as a military firefighter and as a veteran service officer, where he spent years walking veterans through the same claims process he writes about now. He holds an MBA and writes plain-language guides for veterans who want to understand the system without a translator.