Certification of Evidence for Proof of Service

This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations concerning the nature of evidence that VA will accept as proof of military service. In the past, VA only accepted original service documents or copies of service documents issued by the service department or by a public custodian of records. This change authorizes VA to accept photocopies of service documents as evidence of military service if they are certified to be true copies of documents acceptable to VA by an accredited agent, attorney or service organization representative who has successfully completed VA- prescribed training on military records. The intended effect of this amendment is to streamline the processing of claims for benefits.