Virginia veteran benefits
- Verified veteran benefits
- 26
- plus 2 general-law and correction records
- Counties covered
- 133
- every one has its own page
- Veterans in this state
- 0.67M
- Rating thresholds that matter
- 0
- each one opens something different
How to use this, in four steps
You are on step 1. Nothing is locked — browse everything first, then check the ones that look relevant.
See what you may be entitled to
Browse every verified benefit in your state. No questions, no account — everything is open.
Check whether you qualify
Open any benefit and answer a few questions about that one. We stop as soon as we know.
Get the letter that shows the finding
A VA Benefit Summary Letter configured to show service connection and permanence satisfies most offices without disclosing any diagnosis.
File before the deadline
The deadline for the main property tax relief is: Set locally. File with your Commissioner of the Revenue.
Which of these sounds like you?
Pick one and we will narrow the list. You can change or clear it at any point.
Two things sharpen this a lot
Both optional. Your county decides where you file and what a property tax exemption is actually worth; your rating decides which thresholds you cross.
Where do you live?
We use this once to work out your county, because property tax is decided county by county. No benefit is ever matched on a ZIP code alone.
Your VA disability status
What does my rating actually unlock?
Read the record for the test that actually applies in Virginia — several reliefs across this corpus turn on the words on your VA letter rather than on the number.
1 likely, 36 possible
What you appear to qualify for — worth checking.
One question checks 30 of them. You can skip it and keep browsing.
Did you serve in the U.S. armed forces?
2 more questions could resolve others. We ask them one at a time.
Purple Heart Plates Free on One Vehicle — and the Surviving Spouse Keeps Them
Virginia charges NO FEE for Purple Heart plates on ANY ONE MOTOR VEHICLE OWNED AND USED PERSONALLY by the recipient. Additional sets are charged at the standard plate fee, so the free one should go on the car you actually drive. The provision worth knowing is that the SURVIVING SPOUSE IS INCLUDED — the plates do not end with the recipient. No disability rating is required; this is decoration-based.
VeteransApplies statewideNo plate fee on one personally owned and used vehicle
Read it and check if you qualifyVirginia Veterans Care Centers — Long-Term Care Owned and Run by the Commonwealth
Va. Code §2.2-2001 provides for medical care centers for veterans OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE COMMONWEALTH, for Virginia-domiciled veterans under eligibility guidelines the Department of Veterans Services is required to establish. State-run long-term care is materially different from a private facility: the operator is the state and the guidelines are public policy rather than a business decision. WE COULD NOT ESTABLISH the facility names, the costs or the admissions process from the sources reviewed — the DVS site did not yield them — so this record points you at the department rather than pretending to details it does not have.
VeteransApplies statewideLong-term care at Commonwealth-owned and operated centers
Read it and check if you qualifyVirginia Values Veterans — a Network of Employers Paid to Hire You
V3 certifies and trains Virginia employers to recruit and retain veterans, and connects veteran and military-spouse job seekers to that certified network. It also pays the employer: HIRING GRANTS OF $1,000 PER ELIGIBLE VETERAN HIRED, UP TO $10,000 PER COMPANY. For a job seeker the useful facts are that the network exists and is searchable, and that a small employer weighing your application has a thousand dollars riding on the decision — which is worth mentioning.
VeteransApplies statewideAccess to a certified employer network; $1,000 per hire to the employer, up to $10,000
Read it and check if you qualifyRelief for Guard and Reserve Families on Extended Duty
Virginia's Military Family Relief Fund helps with LIVING EXPENSES — food, housing, utilities and medical services — for members of the Virginia National Guard and Virginia residents in the U.S. armed forces reserves called to EXTENDED FEDERAL ACTIVE DUTY IN EXCESS OF 90 DAYS, or to state or federal civil support duty. It is administered by the Adjutant General's office rather than the veterans department. THE GRANT AMOUNTS ARE NOT PUBLISHED, so ask rather than assume the sums are too small to be worth an application.
VeteransApplies statewideAssistance with food, housing, utilities and medical services
Read it and check if you qualifyFull Property Tax Exemption for 100% Disabled Veterans — and a Surviving Spouse Who Can Move
The whole bill on your principal residence and up to an acre — more where your locality already exempts more. A surviving spouse qualifies where the veteran died on or after 1 January 2011, until remarriage, and unusually the exemption is not tied to the house: the spouse may move to a different principal place of residence and keep it.
VeteransApplies statewide100% of your property tax bill, on the dwelling and up to one acre
Read it and check if you qualifyOne Vehicle Off the Personal Property Tax — and Either Spouse's Rating Does It
Virginia exempts ONE VEHICLE from local tangible personal property tax for a veteran rated 100% service-connected, permanent and total. A MARRIED COUPLE QUALIFIES IF EITHER SPOUSE HOLDS THE RATING, which is unusual — most exemptions require the qualifying person to be the owner. The exemption begins on the date the vehicle is acquired OR 1 JANUARY 2021, whichever is later, and is NOT RETROACTIVE BEFORE 2021. It is a state-mandated exemption, so a locality cannot decline it, but it is claimed with the local commissioner of the revenue.
VeteransApplies statewideOne vehicle fully exempt from local personal property tax
Read it and check if you qualifyGranting Freedom — Up to $10,000 to Adapt Your Home, and Renters Qualify
Virginia Housing grants UP TO $10,000 for accessibility modifications — widening doorways, ramps, grab bars and other changes recommended by the VA — to a veteran or service member who sustained a LINE-OF-DUTY INJURY resulting in a service-connected disability. RENTERS QUALIFY AS WELL AS HOMEOWNERS, which very little housing support in this corpus does. Applications go through ACCEPTED AGENTS rather than direct to Virginia Housing, so the first step is finding one.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to $10,000 for accessibility modifications
Read it and check if you qualifyIn-State Tuition on Residence Alone — No Domicile Required
Virginia charges the in-state rate at its public institutions to ANY VETERAN WHO RESIDES IN THE COMMONWEALTH, WITHOUT ESTABLISHING DOMICILE. Domicile in Virginia is a demanding test — it asks about intent, and it normally takes a year — and this provision sets it aside entirely. It also covers active duty members, activated Guard or reserve members, and Guard or reserve members mobilised or on temporary active orders for 180 DAYS OR MORE. Living here is the test.
StudentsApplies statewideIn-state tuition without establishing domicile
Read it and check if you qualifyFree Claims Help From the Department — Including an Automated Filing System
Va. Code §2.2-2001 names benefits claims processing as a Department of Veterans Services duty, and requires DVS to establish eligibility guidelines for Virginia-domiciled VETERANS AND THEIR SPOUSES, ORPHANS AND DEPENDENTS. The statute specifically contemplates AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC PREPARATION of veterans' disability claims. Office locations and intake details were NOT ESTABLISHED from the sources reviewed. What is certain is that the service exists, is a statutory duty, and is free — which is the answer to anyone proposing to charge you for it.
VeteransApplies statewideFree benefits claims processing, a statutory duty of the department
Read it and check if you qualifyFree State Parks Passport at 100% — With Tiered Discounts on Everything Else
Virginia gives a veteran rated 100% service-connected a free parks passport covering VEHICLE PARKING AND ADMISSION, BOAT LAUNCH AND HORSE TRAILER PARKING. Beyond entry it is a tiered discount rather than a blanket waiver: 50% OFF camping, swimming, shelters, standard yurt stays of two or more nights, and equipment rentals, and 25% off certain other charges. Knowing which tier applies before you book is the difference between a pleasant surprise and an argument at the gate.
VeteransApplies statewideFree parking and admission; 50% off camping and rentals, 25% off some other charges
Read it and check if you qualifyMilitary Benefits Subtraction — $40,000, at Any Age
Up to $40,000 of military benefits subtracted for taxable years 2025 and after. The age-55 requirement applied only through taxable year 2023 — from 2024 the subtraction is allowed at any age. It covers military retirement income, qualified military benefits under IRC 134, Survivor Benefit Plan payments to surviving spouses, and military benefits paid to surviving spouses of veterans.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to $40,000 subtracted for taxable years 2025 and after, at any age
Read it and check if you qualifyVMSDEP — All Tuition and Fees for Eight Semesters
A full waiver of tuition and mandatory fees at Virginia public institutions, plus a stipend — and it opens at a 90% rating, not 100%.
VeteransApplies statewideAll tuition and mandatory fees for eight semesters, plus a stipend
Read it and check if you qualifyDisabled Veteran Lifetime Hunting and Fishing Licence
A lifetime licence that starts at a 30% rating and is priced by band — $100 at 30%, down to free if you are totally and permanently disabled.
VeteransApplies statewideA lifetime licence: free if totally and permanently disabled, $50 at 70%+, $75 at 50–69%, $100 at 30–49%
Read it and check if you qualifyVeterans Hiring Preference with the Commonwealth
Five percent on a written examination, ten with a service-connected rating — and a preference in the selection process for the many jobs that have no examination at all.
VeteransApplies statewideFive percent on a written examination, ten with a service-connected rating; otherwise a preference in selection
Read it and check if you qualifyDisabled Veteran Plates — Free Registration, Any Rating
One vehicle registers free with disabled veteran plates — and the gate is any service-connected disability, with no percentage at all.
VeteransApplies statewideNo annual registration fee on one personally used vehicle
Read it and check if you qualifyExpedited Licensure for Military Spouses — and a Temporary Licence if the Board Runs Late
Regulatory boards must expedite a military spouse’s licence application, and where a board cannot complete its review within 20 days it must issue a temporary licence of up to 12 months so you can work while it finishes.
VeteransApplies statewideExpedited review, and a temporary licence of up to 12 months if the board takes more than 20 days
Read it and check if you qualifyService-Disabled Veteran Business Status — a Designation, Not a Certification
Service-disabled veteran status in the state vendor database is a designation layered on top of small-business certification, and it starts with an eligibility certificate from the veterans department. Both steps are free.
VeteransApplies statewideService-disabled veteran status in the state vendor database, at no charge
Read it and check if you qualifyState Veterans Cemeteries — The Commonwealth Pays the Spouse’s Burial Fee
At a state-operated veterans cemetery the Commonwealth pays the burial fee for a member of the National Guard and Reserve, and for a deceased spouse of a member or veteran — whether the spouse dies before or after them. Burial vaults are supplied at cost to eligible veterans and their family members.
VeteransApplies statewideThe burial fee for a Guard or Reserve member or for a spouse, paid by the Commonwealth; vaults at cost
Read it and check if you qualifyMental Health and Rehabilitative Services Support — Family Members Included
A statutory programme that identifies veterans and service members needing care, builds a coordinated resource plan, refers them to mental health, physical rehabilitation and other services, and monitors progress. It reaches family members in their own right, and prioritises by severity of need.
VeteransApplies statewideIdentification, a coordinated resource plan, referral to services, and monitoring of progress
Read it and check if you qualifyNational Guard State Tuition Assistance — The Gap Between Federal Aid and the Full Bill
A grant to a serving Guard member covering the difference between the full cost of tuition and the other educational benefits they are eligible for. It is funded from an appropriation and awarded in the order applications arrive, so the 30-day filing deadline is the binding constraint.
VeteransApplies statewideThe difference between full tuition and the other education benefits you are eligible for
Read it and check if you qualifyReal Property Tax Exemption for a Surviving Spouse After a Line-of-Duty Death
A surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces who died in the line of duty is exempt from real property tax on the principal residence, up to the average assessed value of a single-family home in that locality. The statute covers a death that was the result of suicide, and lets the spouse move without losing it.
VeteransApplies statewideReal property tax exempted up to the locality’s average assessed value for a single-family home
Read it and check if you qualifyFree Recording of Your Discharge with the Circuit Court Clerk — and It Stays Confidential
The clerk of the circuit court where you live must record your discharge or DD-214 on presentation, free of charge. The recorded document is then closed to public inspection, with a short statutory list of people who may obtain a copy.
VeteransApplies statewideNo charge to record, and the record is closed to public inspection
Read it and check if you qualifyPaid Military Leave for Public Employees — 21 Workdays, and a Pay Differential on Top
A Guard or reserve member employed by the Commonwealth or one of its political subdivisions gets up to 21 paid workdays per federal fiscal year for federally funded military duty, with no loss of seniority or accrued leave. Local governments may also pay the difference between regular pay and military pay.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to 21 paid workdays a federal fiscal year — up to 388 work hours for professional firefighters
Read it and check if you qualifyLine of Duty Act Burial Payment — Guard and Defense Force Members Are Inside It
Where a Virginia National Guard or Virginia Defense Force member dies on official state duty or Title 32 federal duty, the Line of Duty Act pays the funeral home directly for burial and transportation — up to $15,000 and $1,000 — as an advance against a $100,000 line-of-duty death benefit. Families rarely look here because the Act reads as a police and fire statute.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to $15,000 of burial expenses and $1,000 of transportation paid to the funeral home, against a $100,000 death benefit
Read it and check if you qualifyEnding a Lease on Orders — and the Landlord May Not Charge Liquidated Damages
A serving member with qualifying orders can end a residential lease by written notice, effective not less than 30 days after the next rent payment falls due. As the section now reads, the landlord may not charge any liquidated damages. A stop movement order counts, and so does being ordered into government quarters.
Serving membersApplies statewideThe remaining rent on the lease, less roughly one more month — with no liquidated damages
Read it and check if you qualifyCancelling Phone, Internet, TV, Gym, Satellite and Alarm Contracts on Orders — Spouses and Dependants Too
On permanent change of station orders, or temporary duty orders over three months, the member — and expressly the spouse or dependant — may terminate six named kinds of service contract without penalty. A provider that refuses commits a Virginia Consumer Protection Act violation, which is the leverage most people never use.
Serving membersApplies statewideThe early-termination penalty on six kinds of contract, cancelled outright
Read it and check if you qualifyCustody While Deployed — A Deployment Order Is Temporary, and the Burden Shifts Back on Return
Under the Military Parents Equal Protection Act, any order cutting a deploying parent’s custody or visitation must say deployment is the reason and must be entered as a temporary order. The court may hand the visitation to a family member, including a stepparent. On return, a hearing takes precedence and is set within 30 days — and it is the other parent who must show the old order should not come back.
Serving membersApplies statewideA temporary order rather than a permanent one, an expedited hearing within 30 days, and the burden on the other parent
Read it and check if you qualifyLife Insurance Cannot Be Refused Over Military Status or Duty Assignment
No insurer may refuse to issue or refuse to continue a life insurance policy because of military status or duty assignment. And where group life or health cover was terminated because of that service, it must be reinstated on return to eligibility — with no new preexisting condition exclusions bolted on.
Serving membersApplies statewideA refusal to issue, continue or reinstate cover on the ground of military service is prohibited
Read it and check if you qualifyUtility Bills — There Is No Veteran Discount in Virginia, and Here Is What There Is Instead
We looked for a veteran rate, credit or preference in Virginia’s energy assistance statutes, the social services department’s own programme page, and the dominant electric utility’s residential tariff list. None of them mentions veterans at all. The help that exists is income-tested, and the income thresholds are the numbers worth knowing.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitNo veteran-specific utility discount found — the routes that exist are income-tested
Read it and check if you qualifyVeteran Treatment Dockets — the Statutory Hook, in Subsection C
Va. Code § 2.2-2001.1(C) directs the Department of Veterans Services programme to cooperate with localities that establish special treatment procedures for veterans and active military service members. It is the statutory hook a Virginia locality builds a veterans docket on. The rest of the section — the mental health and rehabilitative services programme itself — is covered by va-2-2-2001-1-support-program.
VeteransApplies statewideCoordinated mental health and rehabilitative services, and the statutory basis for a locality’s veteran treatment procedure
Read it and check if you qualifyAn Other-Than-Honorable Discharge for Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity — Rewritten for Virginia Purposes
Va. Code § 2.2-2001.6 lets a person separated with an other than honorable discharge due solely to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression petition the Department of Veterans Services to have the discharge treated as honorable. A successful petitioner gets the same rights, privileges and benefits under state law and local ordinances as any other honorably discharged veteran.
VeteransApplies statewideState and local veteran status restored — the same rights, privileges and benefits as any other honorably discharged veteran
Read it and check if you qualifyHonor Guard Grant Program — New in 2026, and the Money Goes to the Organisation, Not the Family
Va. Code § 2.2-2004.3, enacted in 2026, directs the Department of Veterans Services to make grants to veteran service organisations each fiscal year to offset the expenses of providing honor guard burial details at veterans’ funerals in the Commonwealth — training, transportation, food, equipment and supplies.
VeteransApplies statewideGrants to veteran service organisations, subject to the availability of funds — no amount set by statute
Read it and check if you qualifyMilitary Spouse Liaison — a Named Post for Licences, Child Care and the Skills Form
Va. Code § 2.2-2002.2 creates the position of Military Spouse Liaison inside the Department of Veterans Services, with five statutory duties: help with professional licences and employment, research and materials on the challenges spouses face, work on barriers to child care, a standardised form to present a spouse’s skills and education to employers, and whatever else the Commissioner assigns.
VeteransApplies statewideA named advocate inside the Department for licences, child care and employment matching
Read it and check if you qualifyFree Passage on Virginia Toll Roads — a Disability Route, Not a Veteran One, and the VA Can Sign It
Va. Code § 33.2-613(D) lets a driver with a severe physical disability use Virginia toll bridges, toll roads and other toll facilities free. The certification may come from a physician or from the Adjudication Office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — but the test is upper limb mobility, not a rating, and the exemption only works once the Department of Transportation window sticker is on the glass.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitNo toll on Virginia toll bridges, toll roads and other toll facilities, once the window sticker is issued
Read it and check if you qualifyThe Veteran Indicator on a Virginia Licence or ID — No Extra Fee, and 180 Days in the Guard Counts
Va. Code § 46.2-328.2 requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to print a veteran indicator on a driver’s licence, permit or identification card for an applicant who asks and proves veteran status. There is no additional fee for the indicator, and the definition reaches more than 180 days of honourable service in the Virginia National Guard or the Armed Forces Reserves.
VeteransApplies statewideNo additional fee for the indicator — you pay only the ordinary price of the licence or ID
Read it and check if you qualifyDisabled Parking in Virginia — Free Placards, and the DV Plate That Does Not Park
Virginia placards are free and last five years, and after the first one a renewal needs no practitioner certification if disabled parking plates have already been issued. The trap is Va. Code § 46.2-739(A): plain DV plates are barred in terms from using reserved accessible spaces. The plate that parks is the separate DV disabled parking plate under subsection B.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitFree — the Department states that temporary and permanent placards for citizens carry no charge
Read it and check if you qualifyGold Star Plates — $0 a Year, and Not in the Code of Virginia At All
The Department of Motor Vehicles issues a Gold Star plate at no annual fee on a certification form of its own, the Gold Star or Next of Kin License Plate Applicant Certification (VSA 10A). The special licence plate article of the Code of Virginia was read end to end this session and contains no Gold Star section, which is why the Department is the authority here.
VeteransApplies statewide$0 a year for the standard Gold Star plate; $10 a year if you personalise it
Read it and check if you qualify
Does my county change the answer?
For the statewide records, no — the same law applies in all 133 counties. What changes is the office you file with and the rate your bill is calculated at, and we do not yet hold Virginia rates.
- Accomack County
- Albemarle County
- Alleghany County
- Amelia County
- Amherst County
- Appomattox County
- Arlington County
- Augusta County
- Bath County
- Bedford County
- Bland County
- Botetourt County
- Brunswick County
- Buchanan County
- Buckingham County
- Campbell County
- Caroline County
- Carroll County
- Charles City County
- Charlotte County
- Chesterfield County
- Clarke County
- Craig County
- Culpeper County
- Cumberland County
- Dickenson County
- Dinwiddie County
- Essex County
- Fairfax County
- Fauquier County
- Floyd County
- Fluvanna County
- Franklin County
- Frederick County
- Giles County
- Gloucester County
- Goochland County
- Grayson County
- Greene County
- Greensville County
- Halifax County
- Hanover County
- Henrico County
- Henry County
- Highland County
- Isle of Wight County
- James City County
- King and Queen County
- King George County
- King William County
- Lancaster County
- Lee County
- Loudoun County
- Louisa County
- Lunenburg County
- Madison County
- Mathews County
- Mecklenburg County
- Middlesex County
- Montgomery County
- Nelson County
- New Kent County
- Northampton County
- Northumberland County
- Nottoway County
- Orange County
- Page County
- Patrick County
- Pittsylvania County
- Powhatan County
- Prince Edward County
- Prince George County
- Prince William County
- Pulaski County
- Rappahannock County
- Richmond County
- Roanoke County
- Rockbridge County
- Rockingham County
- Russell County
- Scott County
- Shenandoah County
- Smyth County
- Southampton County
- Spotsylvania County
- Stafford County
- Surry County
- Sussex County
- Tazewell County
- Warren County
- Washington County
- Westmoreland County
- Wise County
- Wythe County
- York County
- Alexandria city
- Bristol city
- Buena Vista city
- Charlottesville city
- Chesapeake city
- Colonial Heights city
- Covington city
- Danville city
- Emporia city
- Fairfax city
- Falls Church city
- Franklin city
- Fredericksburg city
- Galax city
- Hampton city
- Harrisonburg city
- Hopewell city
- Lexington city
- Lynchburg city
- Manassas city
- Manassas Park city
- Martinsville city
- Newport News city
- Norfolk city
- Norton city
- Petersburg city
- Poquoson city
- Portsmouth city
- Radford city
- Richmond city
- Roanoke city
- Salem city
- Staunton city
- Suffolk city
- Virginia Beach city
- Waynesboro city
- Williamsburg city
- Winchester city
Every benefit here was checked against the statute or rule behind it, and each page shows the date. This is an informational match, not a government eligibility determination — the responsible agency decides your application.