The Veterans Benefits Administration is excited to announce that Veterans and Servicemembers will now be able to apply for their GI Bill benefits online at Vets.gov. Better yet, the GI Bill benefits application—VA Form 22-1990—has been redesigned. The application’s shift to Vets.gov away from the VonApp feature inside eBenefits is part of the MyVA transformation.

Some of the improvements to the VA Education Benefits Application include a mobile-first design where the app adjusts to any size screen, whether you use a mobile device or a desktop computer; easy-to-understand “plain language,” a simplified user interface with large fonts and more white space, and 508 accessibility.

“The new GI Bill application VA debuted through Vets.gov is impressive,” said Barrett Bogue of Student Veterans of America. “This is a win for student Veterans, and this application further solidifies VA’s commitment to improving the Veterans’ experience. At SVA, we’re eager to continue working together on behalf of all student veterans.” 

The application itself can be completed via mobile device, and there are just eight steps. After selecting which benefit you want to use (Chapter 33: Post-9/11 GI Bill; Chapter 30: Montgomery GI Bill; Chapter 1606: Montgomery GI Bill—Selected Reserve; or Chapter 32: Post-Vietnam Era VEAP), it asks for military, education, and employment history, your school selection and some personal information prior to submission.

It’s important to note that existing application processing times have usually taken about 4-6 weeks, and we expect that to remain the same.

At the moment, dependents and spouses will continue to use VA Forms 22-5490 (Dependent Application for VA Benefits) and 22-1990E (Application for Family Member to Use Transferred Benefits) inside eBenefits when applying to use their Veteran’s education benefits. Veterans changing schools should use VA Form 22-1995 inside eBenefits as well.

While this is just one step closer to realizing a unified experience, we anticipate adding more benefits features to Vets.gov in the near future. As always, you can ask your questions in the comments below, or find us online at the VBA and Post-9/11 GI Bill Facebook pages.

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2 Comments

  1. heinz villariz November 24, 2016 at 05:37

    My children were needing VA 22-1990 this month and came across an excellent service with an online forms library . If you are looking for VA 22-1990 too , here’s https://goo.gl/NvmMv3.

  2. Robert G. Bauman November 12, 2016 at 10:30

    The furnace in my home has stopped working and I can not afford to purchase a new one. Does the VA have a program for helping disabled Veterans with emergency financial assistance?

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