Special Benefits for Military Veterans

Eligible veterans may qualify to have 5 or 10 preference points added to a passing test score. (If the veteran fails an exam, no preference points are allowed.)

Eligible veterans are given hiring preference. Eligible veterans must be considered for a job before non-veterans.

Custodial maintenance jobs are restricted to preference eligible military veterans. Only eligible veterans can apply for these jobs and/or take exam 916 used to fill these jobs.

Eligibility requirements for veterans preference is a confusing topic. To help solve this eligibility puzzle, below is a list of the basic qualifications. However, for your own welfare, we must publish the two following disclaimers along with this list.

The below qualifications are a collection of info published by various agencies including the U.S. Postal Service. It is believed that these qualifications are accurate, but we cannot guarantee that they are all-encompassing or that they fully address every single question and/or issue related to veterans preference. To assure that you get truly accurate answers to questions about veterans preference, you should inquire directly with the U.S. Postal Service or with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

As the U.S. becomes involved in additional military actions, preference qualifications are updated to include veterans of those conflicts. Veterans of current and/or future military actions should make inquiries as described above to confirm their status.

Veterans Preference Qualifications

10 POINTS — 30% COMPENSABLE DISABILITY

• Honorably separated veteran who served at any time and has a compensable service-connected disability rating of 30 percent or more

10 POINTS — COMPENSABLE

• Honorably separated veteran who served at any time and has a compensable service-connected disability rating of at least 10 percent but less than 30 percent

10 POINTS — DISABILITY

• Purple Heart recipient
• Honorably separated veteran who qualifies as a disabled veteran because you served on active duty in the Armed Forces at any time, and have a present service-connected disability or are receiving compensation, disability retirement benefits, or pension from the military or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, but do not qualify for the above 10 point entitlements

10 POINTS — DERIVED

• Spouse of other than a dishonorably discharged veteran who is disqualified for a federal position along the general lines of his or her usual occupation because of a service-connected disability
• Widow or widower of other than a dishonorably discharged veteran and not divorced from the veteran, has not remarried, or the remarriage was annulled, and the veteran either served between April 8, 1952 and July 10, 1955 or during a war, campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge is authorized and awarded to the veteran
• Widow or widower of a veteran and not divorced from the veteran, or the marriage was annulled, and the veteran died while on active duty that included service as described immediately above under conditions that would not have been the basis for other than an honorable or general discharge
• Mother of a living disabled veteran , and the veteran was separated with an honorable or general discharge from active duty performed at any time and was permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected injury or illness; and the mother (1) is or was married to the father of the veteran, and lives with her totally and permanently disabled husband (either the veteran’s father or her husband through remarriage); or (2) is widowed, divorced, or separated from the veteran’s father and has not remarried; or (3) remarried but is widowed, divorced, or legally separated from her husband when she claims the preference

5 POINTS

• Veteran discharged with an honorable or general discharge who served during a war
• Veteran discharged with an honorable or general discharge who served during the period of April 28, 1952 through July 1, 1955; OR for more than 180 consecutive days, other than for training, any part of which occurred after January 31, 1955 and before October 15, 1976
• Veteran discharged with an honorable or general discharge who served on active duty (not for training) during the Gulf War from August 2, 1990 through January 2, 1992
• Veteran discharged with an honorable or general discharge who served on active duty (not for training) for more than 180 consecutive days, any part of which occurred during the period beginning September 11, 2001, and ending on the date prescribed by Presidential proclamation or by law as the last day of Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Veteran discharged with an honorable or general discharge that served in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign medal has been authorized and awarded to the veteran