What standard do I have to meet?

At least as likely as not. If you can show the condition or the identity was as likely as not the reason for the discharge, the Department decides in your favour. That is a materially lower bar than the federal upgrade process.

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Restoration of Honor — Get New York to Treat Your Discharge as Honorable

If PTSD, TBI, military sexual trauma, sexual orientation or gender identity led to a less-than-honorable discharge, New York can restore your access to every state veteran benefit.

Verified August 18, 2026

What this benefit is

New York can decide to treat an other-than-honorable or general under honorable conditions discharge as honorable, for the purpose of state veteran benefits.

It applies where the discharge was caused by post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

What it's worth: Access to every New York State veteran benefit you were shut out of

The value is whatever the rest of this corpus is worth to you, because a discharge determination is what most of it turns on — the property tax exemptions, the tuition award, the civil service credit, the pension buy-back.
It is not a cash benefit and carries no payment of its own.

Who is entitled to it

A veteran holding an OTH or general under honorable conditions discharge.
Where one of those causes was at least as likely as not the reason for it.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

The thing most people get wrong

This is not a benefit — it is the key to the others

Almost every New York record in this corpus tests your discharge: the property tax exemptions, the tuition award, the civil service credit, the pension buy-back. A determination under Executive Law article 17-C changes the answer to that test in one move. If your discharge falls in scope, treat every refusal you have ever had from New York — including the ones this site returns — as provisional until you have applied.

How to claim it

1Request your Official Military Personnel File — it is the backbone of the application.
2Write a personal statement explaining how the condition or the identity led to the discharge. For a medical route, attach the diagnosis and evidence it began or worsened in service.
3Submit to the DVS Appellate Unit. The standard is "at least as likely as not" — you do not have to prove it beyond doubt.
4If refused, ask for the appeal. A de novo review is conducted by the General Counsel of DVS.

File with: The New York State Department of Veterans' Services, Appellate Unit
Documents you will need: restoration of honor application · official military personnel file · personal statement · medical or va documentation
No renewal needed

Common mistakes that cost people this benefit

Believing you need a federal discharge upgrade first. You do not. This is a separate New York determination with its own, more generous standard.
Expecting your DD214 to change. It will not. The determination governs New York State benefit eligibility only.
Not appealing. A refusal gets a de novo review by the General Counsel of the Department of Veterans' Services, which is a genuine second look rather than a rubber stamp.
Assuming it is too late. There is no deadline.

Worth knowingThis record changes the answer to other records. Almost every New York benefit in this corpus tests your discharge. If yours is other-than-honorable for one of the named reasons, read every refusal here as provisional until you have applied.

Worth knowingIt does not change your DD214. The determination governs eligibility for New York State benefits only; your federal character of discharge is untouched, and a federal discharge upgrade is a separate process with a different standard.

Worth knowingThe evidentiary standard is deliberately generous. If you can show the condition or identity was at least as likely as not the reason for the discharge, DVS decides in your favour.

Known gapFor a discharged LGBT veteran the certification is refused where aggravating circumstances would independently have produced a less-than-honorable discharge. How DVS weighs that in practice is not published, and it is the part of the Act most likely to decide a marginal case.

Questions people ask

What standard do I have to meet?: At least as likely as not. If you can show the condition or the identity was as likely as not the reason for the discharge, the Department decides in your favour. That is a materially lower bar than the federal upgrade process.
I was discharged for my sexual orientation, but there was other misconduct in my file.: This is the hardest case. Certification is refused for a discharged LGBT veteran where aggravating circumstances would independently have produced a less-than-honorable discharge. How the Department weighs that is not published, so get help with the application rather than filing alone.

Sources

authority · statuteN.Y. Exec. Law art. 17-C, §§369-l to 369-o
operating · published policyNew York State Department of Veterans' Services — Restoration of Honor Act

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.