Citation Nr: 21022066 Decision Date: 04/14/21 Archive Date: 04/14/21 DOCKET NO. 18-32 181 DATE: April 14, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for an acquired psychiatric disorder characterized as adjustment reaction with anxiety and depressive features is dismissed. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. In April 2019, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) remanded the Veteran’s legacy appeal regarding entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for adjustment reaction with anxiety and depressive features. 2. On February 18, 2021, after taking further action, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) furnished the Veteran with a Supplemental Statement of the Case with respect to the matter of his entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for adjustment reaction with anxiety and depressive features. 3. On March 15, 2021, the Veteran timely opted into the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) review system by submitting a VA Form 20-0996 (Decision Review Request: Higher-Level Review) with respect to his claim of entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for adjustment reaction with anxiety and depressive features. CONCLUSION OF LAW The Board does not presently have jurisdiction to consider the merits of the Veteran’s legacy appeal regarding entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for adjustment reaction with anxiety and depressive features. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400, 20.205. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from April 1976 to April 1979. This case comes to the Board on appeal from a December 2015 Rating Decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This case was previously before the Board in April 2019 under the legacy appeal system. At that time, the Board remanded the Veteran’s claim of entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for adjustment reaction with anxiety and depressive features for additional development. The AMA allows VA claimants with legacy appeals to opt into the modernized review system by requesting review of Supplemental Statement of the Case issued on or after February 19, 2019 if the opt-in is elected on a form prescribed by VA for that purpose and is received within one year of the date of the notification of the underlying decision, or within 60 days from the issuance of the Supplemental Statement of the Case, whichever is later. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.2400(c)(2). In the present case, the Board, in April 2019, remanded the Veteran’s legacy appeal regarding entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for adjustment reaction with anxiety and depressive features. On February 18, 2021, after taking further action, the AOJ furnished the Veteran a Supplemental Statement of the Case with respect to that issue. On March 15, 2021, the Veteran opted into the AMA review system by submitting a VA Form 20-0996. The Board acknowledges that the AOJ sent correspondence to the Veteran in March 2021 informing him that his request for AMA Higher-Level Review could not be accepted as his appeal was currently being reviewed by the Board. However, his March 2021 VA Form 20-0996 was clearly received within 60 days of the February 2021 Supplemental Statement of the Case. As such, his request for Higher-Level Review satisfies the legal requirements for opting into the AMA review system. That request must be honored. Under the law, once an eligible claimant elects the modernized review system with respect to a particular claim, the provisions of 38 C.F.R. Parts 19 and 20 pertaining to legacy appeals no longer apply to that claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.2400(d). By submitting the VA Form 20-0996, the Veteran effectively withdrew his appeal with respect to entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for adjustment reaction with anxiety and depressive features from the legacy appeal system. As such, there remain no allegations of errors of fact or law for appellate consideration under that system. Accordingly, the Board does not have jurisdiction to review the legacy appeal and it must be dismissed. Tiffany Dawson Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Anthony M. Flamini The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.