The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), National Cemetery Administration (NCA) values its partnership with funeral professionals as it seeks to honor the service of Veterans and their families. The VA and NCA could not accomplish this task without your strong support. For that reason, the VA and NCA is sharing this information so that it can provide better and faster service when scheduling a burial at a national cemetery.

To schedule a burial, first fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 or scan and email the documentation to NCA.Scheduling@va.gov with the name of the decedent in the subject line.  Please follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117 once your documents have been sent.

The NCA seeks to minimize unnecessary wait times to speak with a representative. To better serve you, they ask that you please have the following information readily available when you call: 

• Cemetery of choice
• First or subsequent burial (Veteran or dependent already buried)
• If subsequent interment, who is already interred, social security number and section and site number (if known) 
• Decedent's: 
  • Full name
  • Gender
  • Social Security Number (SSN)
  • Date of death
  • Date of birth
  • Relationship (Veteran or dependent) 
• Funeral director’s contact information: 
  • Funeral director's name
  • Funeral home’s name
  • Address; and
  • Email address of the funeral home
• Next of kin information:  
  • Name
  • Relationship to deceased
  • SSN
  • Telephone number
  • Address 
• Type of emblem of belief for headstone/marker (if desired)
• Did the decedent reside within 75 miles of requested cemetery?
• ZIP code of decedent at time of death
• County of decedent at time of death
• Type of burial 
  • Casket; or
  • Casket size/liner size
• Cremation 
  • Urn size/urn vault size
• Marital status of deceased (if Veteran is buried in a private cemetery, must provide documentation of marital status of spouse at time of death)
• Is surviving spouse a Veteran?
• Any disabled children for future interment (must provide name and date of birth). If requesting immediate interment (must provide marital status, doctor's statement stating type of illness, date of onset of illness and capability of self-support).
  
• Military Honors requested.  It is important to note that scheduling of military honors is the responsibility of the funeral home or family member requesting the interment.  Our representative will be able to provide those telephone numbers for your convenience.
  

The VA and NCA thank you for your understanding regarding this matter. Should you experience future issues or if have additional concerns regarding long wait times, please contact them using the Inquiry Routing & Information System, so it can track inquiries and respond promptly. 

Posted: October 2016