Skip to main content

Veterans Benefits in Virginia

17 benefit programs available in Virginia.

Healthcare

Virginia Veteran and Family Support (VVFS) Program

Free behavioral health support, peer counseling, and care coordination

Statewide behavioral health support, peer counseling, care coordination, and crisis intervention for veterans, Guard/Reserve members, and their families. Covers combat stress, PTSD, military sexual trauma, TBI, substance use treatment, housing assistance, and benefits counseling.

Agency: Virginia Department of Veterans Services

Note: Serves veterans of any era. No disability rating or honorable discharge required. Includes couples workshops and family retreats. Contact: 855-4VA-VETS.

Apply →Source

Virginia Veterans Care Centers

Long-term skilled nursing and rehabilitative care (VA pays up to 70% for service-connected)

Virginia operates state veterans care centers providing in-patient skilled nursing care, Alzheimer's/memory care, and short-term rehabilitative care. Facilities in Roanoke (Sitter & Barfoot), Richmond, Virginia Beach, and Fauquier County (Puller Center).

Agency: Virginia Department of Veterans Services

Note: Four state veterans care centers across Virginia. Accepts VA per diem, Medicaid, Medicare, and private pay. Priority given to veterans with service-connected disabilities.

Apply →Source

Education

Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program (VMSDEP)

Full tuition and fees waiver for up to 8 semesters ($40,000-$120,000+ total value)

Provides up to eight semesters of tuition-free education at Virginia public colleges, universities, and Eastern Virginia Medical School for children (ages 16-29) and spouses of veterans rated 90%+ permanently disabled or killed/MIA/POW due to military service. Covers all tuition and mandatory fees.

Agency: Virginia Department of Veterans Services

Note: Virginia must be the service member's home of record for at least 5 years before application. Contact: vmsdep@dvs.virginia.gov or (804) 225-2083.

Apply →Source

Virginia National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program (STAP)

Up to $8,000 per year in tuition assistance

Provides conditional grants each semester to eligible Virginia National Guard members enrolled at accredited public or nonprofit private institutions of higher education in Virginia. Schools bill the Department of Military Affairs directly.

Agency: Virginia Department of Military Affairs

Note: Requires minimum 2-year remaining obligation to Virginia National Guard. Must have completed BCT/BMT or ROTC Advanced Camp. Incurs 2-year Guard commitment upon completion of last assisted term.

Apply →Source

Virginia Military Benefits for Higher Education

Full tuition and fee waiver

Waives tuition and fees at Virginia public colleges for children and surviving spouses of veterans who are totally and permanently disabled or at least 90% permanently disabled due to military service, or who were killed, are missing in action, or taken prisoner. For dependents of qualifying veterans only.

Agency: Virginia Department of Veterans Services

Note: For dependents/survivors only. Veteran must be 90%+ P&T disabled, KIA, MIA, or POW. VMSDEP (Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program) provides tuition waiver + stipend at VA public institutions.

Apply →Source

Housing

Virginia Housing Granting Freedom Accessibility Modification Grants

Up to $6,000 per residence for accessibility modifications

Virginia Housing (VHDA) provides grants of up to $6,000 to help Virginia veterans and service members disabled by line-of-duty injuries make their homes more accessible. Funds can be used for ramps, grab bars, widened doorways, roll-in showers, and other accessibility modifications.

Agency: Virginia Housing (VHDA)

Note: Must have disability resulting from line-of-duty injury. Virginia Housing also offers closing cost assistance grants for VA-guaranteed loans.

Apply →Source

Employment

Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Employment Program

Free career services; employer hiring incentives up to $10,000

Free Commonwealth training and certification program connecting veterans with employment. Provides resume support, career coaching, job placement, and SkillBridge access. Certified V3 employers with fewer than 300 employees may receive grants of up to $1,000 per veteran hired (up to $10,000 total).

Agency: Virginia Department of Veterans Services

Note: Over 1,700 certified V3 employers statewide. Includes SkillBridge programs and on-the-job training.

Apply →Source

Tax

Virginia Disabled Veteran Vehicle Sales and Use Tax Exemption

Exemption from 4.15% motor vehicle sales tax (savings varies by vehicle price)

Veterans with a 100% service-connected permanent and total disability are exempt from the Virginia motor vehicle sales and use tax (SUT) on the purchase of one passenger car or pickup/panel truck for personal use.

Agency: Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

Note: Only one vehicle at a time may carry the exemption. Submit SUT2 and SUT3 forms with VA benefit summary letter.

Apply →Source

Virginia Military Retirement Pay Income Tax Subtraction

Up to $40,000 state income tax subtraction (uncapped starting 2026)

Virginia allows military retirees to subtract up to $40,000 of military retirement pay from Virginia taxable income for the 2025 tax year. Starting in 2026, the cap is fully removed and all military retirement pay is exempt from Virginia state income tax. Applies to Armed Forces retirement pay and Survivor Benefit Plan annuities. TSP distributions and non-military federal retirement do not qualify.

Agency: Virginia Department of Taxation

Note: Applies to all military retirees regardless of age or disability rating. The $40,000 cap for 2025 is fully eliminated for tax year 2026 and beyond.

Apply →Source

Virginia Disabled Veteran Personal Property Tax Exemption

Full personal property tax exemption on one vehicle (typically $500-$2,000+/year)

Virginia exempts one automobile or pickup truck owned and used personally by a 100% service-connected permanently and totally disabled veteran from local personal property taxation. The surviving unremarried spouse also qualifies.

Agency: Local Commissioner of the Revenue

Note: Must be rated 100% permanent and total by the VA. Apply through your local Commissioner of the Revenue. Covers automobiles and pickup trucks only.

Apply →Source

Virginia 100% Disabled Veterans Property Tax Exemption

Full property tax exemption

Veterans with a 100% permanent and total service-connected disability are fully exempt from real property taxes on their primary residence in Virginia.

Agency: Virginia Department of Taxation / Local Commissioner of the Revenue

Note: Must be 100% P&T (permanent and total). Apply with local Commissioner of Revenue. Effective January 1, 2011. Surviving spouses qualify if they continue to occupy as primary residence and do not remarry.

Apply →Source

Transportation

Virginia Disabled Veteran License Plates

Free license plates and registration ($50-$100+/year savings for qualifying veterans)

Special DV license plates for veterans with any VA service-connected disability. Veterans who are 100% permanently and totally disabled, have lost use of a limb, or are blind receive one free set of DV plates with no annual registration fee. Surviving unremarried spouses also qualify.

Agency: Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

Note: Any service-connected disability qualifies for DV plates ($10 fee). Free plates with no registration fee for 100% P&T, loss of limb, or blindness.

Apply →Source

Virginia Veterans Vehicle License Fee Exemption

Annual vehicle license fee savings

Veterans with a 100% service-connected disability are exempt from state vehicle license fees for one vehicle registered in their name.

Agency: Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)

Note: Covers one vehicle only. Must be registered in veteran's name. Apply at local DMV office with VA disability documentation.

Apply →Source

Recreation

Virginia Disabled Veteran State Parks Passport

Free state park entry and parking; 50% discount on camping and amenities

Free entry and parking at all Virginia state parks plus a 50% discount on camping fees, swimming fees, picnic shelter rentals, and equipment rentals. Available to veterans with a 100% service-connected disability rating.

Agency: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

Note: Virginia residency NOT required. Submit application and VA Benefit Summary Letter to resvs@dcr.virginia.gov.

Apply →Source

Virginia Disabled Veteran Lifetime Hunting and Fishing License

Free lifetime license for 100% disabled ($100+ value); discounted for lower ratings

Free lifetime hunting and freshwater fishing license for resident veterans with a 100% service-connected disability. Veterans with lower ratings receive discounted licenses scaled to their disability percentage.

Agency: Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

Note: Pricing based on disability percentage. 100% disabled veterans get free lifetime combined license. Nonresident disabled veterans also eligible for discounts.

Apply →Source

Other

Virginia Veterans Treatment Dockets

Alternative to incarceration with treatment and support services

Alternative to traditional criminal case processing for justice-involved veterans with substance use disorders or mental illness. Offers structured treatment programs, peer support, and connections to VA and community resources as alternatives to incarceration.

Agency: Virginia Supreme Court / Virginia Department of Veterans Services

Note: VVFS Veteran Justice Specialists provide resource connections for justice-involved veterans. Contact: (804) 225-4734 or justice.vvfs@dvs.virginia.gov.

Apply →Source

Virginia State Veterans Cemeteries

No-cost burial, headstone/marker, and military honors

Virginia operates three state veterans cemeteries in Amelia, Suffolk (Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial), and Dublin (Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery). All accommodate casketed burial, cremation inurnment, and columbarium at no cost to eligible veterans and dependents. Includes government headstone/marker and military funeral honors.

Agency: Virginia Department of Veterans Services

Note: Eligible: veterans with honorable discharge, Guard/Reservists, spouses, and minor/disabled children. Military honors through DoD program. Contact: 855-4VA-VETS.

Apply →Source

Discover All Benefits You Qualify For

AIDEN matches your service history, disability rating, and location against every available benefit program to find what you qualify for.

Get Personalized Results