VetCert Denied: How to Appeal to OHA, or Fix It and Apply Again

This page is for a veteran business owner whose VetCert application came back denied. VetCert is how the Small Business Administration (SBA) certifies a veteran-owned small business (VOSB) or a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB). If you have not applied yet, start with the VetCert guide.

What the denial letter must say

SBA decides in writing, and a denial letter must say this.

A decision to deny certification status will state the specific reason(s) for denial and will inform the Applicant of any appeal rights.

SBA emails the letter to the address on the application and treats it as received once sent. Keep that address current. The date you receive it starts the appeal clock.

Two paths: appeal or apply again

A denied business can appeal to SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals, called OHA. Or, 90 calendar days after the decline, it can fix the reasons and apply again. An appeal asks whether SBA was wrong on the record it had. A new application asks whether the business qualifies today.

SBA's VetCert FAQ points applicants to free business counseling, including at Veterans Business Outreach Centers.

A denial for lack of proof that the owner is a veteran or a service-disabled veteran can't go to OHA. The appeals rules call it a final VA decision. That status comes from the VA's records.

Update SAM.gov on either path

A denied business must update its VOSB or SDVOSB self-certification in SAM.gov, the System for Award Management. It has two days from when the denial becomes a final agency decision. If you do not appeal, those two days start 10 business days after you receive the denial. This rule still says 10 business days, even though the appeal deadline is now 45 business days. If you appeal and OHA upholds the denial, the two days start when OHA decides. If a business does not update its status, SBA will.

The appeal deadline: 45 business days

In this rule, a concern is a business, and decertified means SBA removed its certification.

A concern whose application for VOSB or SDVOSB certification has been denied or whose status has been decertified must file its appeal within 45 business days of receipt of the denial or decertification.

Until January 16, 2025, the rule said 10 business days. A rule published December 17, 2024 changed it, and SBA said the appeal process should be consistent with its 8(a) business development program. The 8(a) rule gives 45 days. The VetCert rule gives 45 business days.

SBA's VetCert FAQ pages on the deadline, last updated in December 2023, still say 10 business days. Several OHA decisions from 2025 and 2026 also note that the business filed "within 10 business days". That only records when those businesses filed. The regulation in force controls, and it says 45.

To count the days, skip the day the period begins and count the last day. A deadline on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday moves to the next business day. OHA will dismiss a late appeal, and a judge cannot extend the deadline for starting a case. If the denial letter states a different deadline from the regulation, the longer one governs.

What an appeal must contain

An appeal is a written petition. There is no required format, but it must include four things:

• A copy of the denial and the date you received it.
• A statement of why the denial is in error.
• Any other information the judge should consider.
• The name, address, phone number, email if available, and signature of the business or its attorney.

File it with OHA by email at OHAFilings@sba.gov, by mail or delivery, or by fax. The filing date is the day OHA receives it. Anything received after 5 p.m. Eastern counts as filed the next business day.

You must also serve SBA, meaning send it a copy of the whole petition. It goes to the Director of the Office of Government Contracting and to SBA Counsel at OPLservice@sba.gov. Attach a signed certificate of service. A petition that misses any of these requirements may be dismissed.

By signing a filing, the business or its attorney attests that it is true to the best of its knowledge. False statements are subject to criminal penalties.

What OHA looks at

Once you file, SBA must send OHA the entire case file behind the denial. SBA may respond. The judge's notice and order closes the record 15 days after it is served, and any response must reach OHA by then. There is no hearing and no discovery, so neither side can demand evidence from the other.

The judge's standard:

The standard of review is whether the D/GC denial or decertification was based on clear error of fact or law. The appellant has the burden of proof, by a preponderance of the evidence.

D/GC is SBA's Director of Government Contracting, and the appellant is the business. You have to show that SBA got a fact wrong or applied the rule wrong. The judge decides mainly on the case file, your arguments and SBA's response, and may take up issues nobody raised. The judge is to decide within 60 calendar days after the record closes, where practicable.

New evidence

The rule on new evidence says:

Except for good cause shown, evidence beyond the case file will not be admitted.

In Blue Skye Foods, the business sent OHA changes to its operating agreement made after the denial. The judge would not consider them, because they do not answer whether the denial was an error when SBA made it.

What OHA can do

• Grant the appeal. If the judge grants it and finds the business eligible, SBA must immediately add the business to the certification database.
• Deny the appeal. The denial stands.
• Dismiss the appeal. OHA will dismiss a late appeal and may dismiss one that misses a requirement. When OHA dismisses, SBA's decision stays in effect.
• Send it back. The judge can set the denial aside and send it to SBA for a new decision.

The decision is SBA's final agency decision and takes effect when issued. A party that took part in the appeal can ask for reconsideration within 20 calendar days after the written decision is served. The request has to clearly show an error of fact or law that matters to the decision.

Applying again after 90 days

The rule for a declined business says this.

A concern that SBA has declined may apply for certification after ninety (90) calendar days from the date of decline, if it believes that it has overcome all of the reasons for decline and is currently eligible.

The business also has to be eligible on the date SBA issues its decision. A business denied or decertified in the past three years must include a full explanation of why, and what, if any, changes have been made. If SBA is not satisfied with the explanation, SBA will deny the application.

Decertification is different. A decertified business may apply again immediately, if it believes it has overcome all the reasons through changed circumstances and is currently eligible. If SBA decertifies for eligibility, the rule on decertification says its notice will point to the 90 day wait instead. Read what your notice says about applying again. Renewal, and decertification for a missed renewal, are in VetCert renewal.

For a status denial, SBA's FAQ on veteran status says neither VetCert nor OHA can decide veteran status or disability. It says the best way to correct a VA record is an appointment with a VA public contact representative. A veteran the VA doesn't list as service-disabled can still apply as a VOSB.

SBA says APEX Accelerators can help you see whether you are eligible for small business certifications, and APEX says its guidance is no-cost. Find yours at apexaccelerators.us.

What real appeals show

Seven OHA decisions on VetCert appeals, September 2025 to June 2026, are told in VetCert appeal decisions. They are examples, not odds, and say nothing about how any other appeal will come out.

This site teaches how a VetCert appeal works. It does not appeal or apply for anyone, and nothing here is a promise about what SBA or OHA decides.