Submit a lay or witness statement to support a VA claim

Use this form to submit a formal statement to support your VA claim—or the claim of another Veteran or eligible family member. People also sometimes call this statement a “buddy statement.”

What to know before you complete this form

• You can submit a statement to support your own VA claim or someone else’s VA claim.
• To submit a statement to support someone else’s claim, you’ll need to give us information like their date of birth, Social Security number, VA file number (if available), and contact information.
• Each statement needs its own form. If you want to submit more than one statement about your claim, use a new form for each statement. If you want more than one person to submit a statement to support your claim, ask each person to use a separate form.