Nexus Letter Visual Guide Library

16 printable one-page charts that catalogue how VA nexus letters and private medical opinions work: what a nexus letter is and when a claim needs one, the anatomy of a persuasive opinion, the probability language VA looks for, direct and secondary service-connection roadmaps, common red flags, how VA weighs conflicting medical opinions, and research on how a detected private opinion relates to published Board outcomes.

16 visual guides. 2 research charts refresh weekly from RateMyVSO's analysis of 1.9M+ published BVA decisions; each chart prints its own sample size. The other 14, including a third research chart on opinion conflicts at the Board, state the nexus-letter rules, the medical-opinion tests, or the roadmaps and change only when the law does.

How to use this library

Every guide is a single tall image sized for printing or saving to your phone. Select any card to open the full-resolution image, or use the download link under it. The rule and roadmap charts summarize the published criteria; the research charts report what RateMyVSO measured in published Board decisions, with the population printed on the chart itself.

These charts catalogue published rules and observed Board outcomes. They do not predict any individual claim and are not legal or medical advice. For the full written guidance behind them, start with the Nexus Letters guide.

Common Questions

Can I download, print, and share these guides?
Yes. Every guide has a free full-resolution PNG download, sized for printing on letter paper or reading on a phone. Share them freely; please keep the footer attribution intact so readers can find the underlying data.
How current are the research numbers?
The research charts are regenerated every week from the same data files that power this site's live Nexus Trend Report. Each chart prints the generation date of its own data sources in the footer, so you always know exactly when its numbers were produced.
Do these charts predict my claim?
No. They report what happened in published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions, which are appeals, not initial claims, and are described with their exact sample on each chart. An observed grant share is a description of past decided cases, never a probability for any individual claim.

Related Tools and Guides

Nexus Letters Guide
The written guidance behind these charts, from what a nexus letter is through where to get one.
Nexus Trend Report
The live version of the private-opinion research charts, updated weekly.
How VA Weighs Medical Opinions
The full written guidance behind the opinion-weighing and conflicts charts.
All Visual Guide Libraries
Every RateMyVSO visual guide collection in one place.
Educational use only. These visual guides catalogue published VA rules and observed outcomes in published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions. They are not legal or medical advice, do not predict any individual claim, and are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sample sizes and data dates are printed on each chart.