diff --git a/modules/ivc_champva/app/services/ivc_champva/ves_data_validator.rb b/modules/ivc_champva/app/services/ivc_champva/ves_data_validator.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2e7bdb9fbf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/ivc_champva/app/services/ivc_champva/ves_data_validator.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# TODO: add validators for non-required, but structure constrained types:
+# - validate phone number structure: ^(\+\d{1,2}\s)?\(?\d{3}\)?[\s.-]\d{3}[\s.-]\d{4}$
+# - validate gender values
+# - validate relationship to veteran
+
+module IvcChampva
+  class VesDataValidator
+    # This function will run through all the individual validators
+    def self.validate(request_body)
+      validate_application_type(request_body)
+        .then { |rb| validate_application_uuid(rb) }
+        .then { |rb| validate_sponsor(rb) }
+        .then { |rb| validate_beneficiaries(rb) }
+        .then { |rb| validate_certification(rb) }
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_sponsor(request_body)
+      sponsor = request_body[:sponsor]
+      validate_first_name(sponsor)
+        .then { |s| validate_last_name(s) }
+        .then { |s| validate_sponsor_address(s) }
+        .then { |s| validate_date_of_birth(s) }
+        .then { |s| validate_person_uuid(s) }
+        .then { |s| validate_ssn(s) }
+
+      request_body
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_beneficiaries(request_body)
+      beneficiaries = request_body[:beneficiaries]
+      raise ArgumentError, 'beneficiaries is invalid. Must be an array' unless beneficiaries.is_a?(Array)
+
+      beneficiaries.each do |beneficiary|
+        validate_beneficiary(beneficiary)
+      end
+
+      request_body
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_beneficiary(beneficiary)
+      validate_first_name(beneficiary)
+        .then { |b| validate_last_name(b) }
+        .then { |b| validate_date_of_birth(b) }
+        .then { |b| validate_person_uuid(b) }
+        .then { |b| validate_beneficiary_address(b) }
+        .then { |b| validate_ssn(b) }
+
+      beneficiary
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_certification(request_body)
+      certification = request_body[:certification]
+
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(certification[:signature], 'certification signature')
+      validate_date(certification[:signatureDate], 'certification signature date')
+
+      request_body
+    end
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------ #
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------ #
+
+    def self.validate_application_type(request_body)
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(request_body[:applicationType], 'application type')
+
+      request_body
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_application_uuid(request_body)
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(request_body[:applicationUUID], 'application UUID')
+      validate_uuid_length(request_body[:applicationUUID], 'application UUID')
+
+      request_body
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_first_name(object)
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(object[:firstName], 'first name')
+      object[:firstName] = transliterate_and_strip(object[:firstName])
+
+      object
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_last_name(object)
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(object[:lastName], 'last name')
+      object[:lastName] = transliterate_and_strip(object[:lastName])
+
+      object
+    end
+
+    def self.transliterate_and_strip(text)
+      # Convert any special UTF-8 chars to nearest ASCII equivalents, drop whitespace
+      I18n.transliterate(text).gsub(%r{[^a-zA-Z\-\/\s]}, '').strip
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_person_uuid(object)
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(object[:personUUID], 'person uuid')
+      validate_uuid_length(object[:personUUID], 'person uuid')
+
+      object
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_date_of_birth(object)
+      validate_date(object[:dateOfBirth], 'date of birth')
+
+      object
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_beneficiary_address(beneficiary)
+      validate_address(beneficiary[:address], 'beneficiary')
+
+      beneficiary
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_sponsor_address(request_body)
+      validate_address(request_body[:address], 'sponsor')
+
+      request_body
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_address(address, name)
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(address[:city], "#{name} city")
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(address[:state], "#{name} state")
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(address[:zipCode], "#{name} zip code")
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(address[:streetAddress], "#{name} street address")
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_ssn(request_body)
+      # TODO: strip out hyphens here? Or do that further up the chain?
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(request_body[:ssn], 'ssn')
+      unless request_body[:ssn].match?(/^(?!(000|666|9))\d{3}(?!00)\d{2}(?!0000)\d{4}$/)
+        raise ArgumentError, 'ssn is invalid. Must be 9 digits (see regex for more detail)'
+      end
+
+      request_body
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_date(date, name)
+      validate_presence_and_stringiness(date, name)
+      raise ArgumentError, 'date is invalid. Must match YYYY-MM-DD' unless date.match?(/^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$/)
+
+      # TODO: once we know the exact date format VES is expecting we can
+      # do further checks here.
+      date
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_uuid_length(uuid, name)
+      # TODO: we may want a more sophisticated validation for uuids
+      raise ArgumentError, "#{name} is invalid. Must be 36 characters" unless uuid.length == 36
+    end
+
+    def self.validate_presence_and_stringiness(value, error_label)
+      raise ArgumentError, "#{error_label} is missing" unless value
+      raise ArgumentError, "#{error_label} is not a string" if value.class != String
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/modules/ivc_champva/spec/services/ves_data_validator_spec.rb b/modules/ivc_champva/spec/services/ves_data_validator_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1cad271feb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/ivc_champva/spec/services/ves_data_validator_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'rails_helper'
+
+valid_data = {
+  applicationType: 'CHAMPVA Application',
+  applicationUUID: '12345678-1234-5678-1234-567812345678',
+  sponsor: {
+    personUUID: '52345678-1234-5678-1234-567812345678',
+    firstName: 'Joe',
+    lastName: 'Johnson',
+    middleInitial: 'X',
+    ssn: '123123123',
+    vaFileNumber: '',
+    dateOfBirth: '1999-01-01',
+    dateOfMarriage: '',
+    isDeceased: true,
+    dateOfDeath: '1999-01-01',
+    isDeathOnActiveService: false,
+    address: {
+      streetAddress: '123 Certifier Street ',
+      city: 'Citytown',
+      state: 'AL',
+      zipCode: '12312'
+    }
+  },
+  beneficiaries: [
+    {
+      personUUID: '62345678-1234-5678-1234-567812345678',
+      firstName: 'Johnny',
+      lastName: 'Alvin',
+      middleInitial: 'T',
+      ssn: '345345345',
+      emailAddress: 'johnny@alvin.gov',
+      phoneNumber: '+1 (555) 555-1234',
+      gender: 'MALE',
+      enrolledInMedicare: true,
+      hasOtherInsurance: true,
+      relationshipToSponsor: 'CHILD',
+      childtype: 'ADOPTED',
+      address: {
+        streetAddress: '456 Circle Street ',
+        city: 'Clinton',
+        state: 'AS',
+        zipCode: '56790'
+      },
+      dateOfBirth: '2000-01-01'
+    }
+  ],
+  certification: {
+    signature: 'certifier jones',
+    signatureDate: '1999-01-01',
+    firstName: 'Certifier',
+    lastName: 'Jones',
+    middleInitial: 'X',
+    phoneNumber: '(123) 123-1234'
+  }
+}
+
+describe IvcChampva::VesDataValidator do
+  describe 'data is valid' do
+    it 'returns unmodified data' do
+      # Deep copy our properly formatted data
+      request_body = Marshal.load(Marshal.dump(valid_data))
+
+      validated_data = IvcChampva::VesDataValidator.validate(request_body)
+
+      expect(validated_data).to eq(request_body)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe 'request_body key has a missing value' do
+    it 'raises a missing exception' do
+      expect do
+        IvcChampva::VesDataValidator.validate_presence_and_stringiness(nil, 'sponsor first name')
+      end.to raise_error(ArgumentError, 'sponsor first name is missing')
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe 'string key has a non-string value' do
+    it 'raises a non-string exception' do
+      expect do
+        IvcChampva::VesDataValidator.validate_presence_and_stringiness(12, 'sponsor first name')
+      end.to raise_error(ArgumentError, 'sponsor first name is not a string')
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe 'sponsor first name is malformed' do
+    describe 'contains disallowed characters' do
+      it 'returns data with disallowed characters of sponsor first name stripped or corrected' do
+        # Deep copy our valid data
+        request_body = Marshal.load(Marshal.dump(valid_data))
+        request_body[:sponsor][:firstName] = '2Jöhn~! - Jo/hn?\\'
+        expected_sponsor_name = 'John - Jo/hn'
+
+        validated_data = IvcChampva::VesDataValidator.validate(request_body)
+
+        expect(validated_data[:sponsor][:firstName]).to eq expected_sponsor_name
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe 'sponsor last name is malformed' do
+    describe 'contains disallowed characters' do
+      it 'returns data with disallowed characters of sponsor last name stripped or corrected' do
+        # Deep copy our valid data
+        request_body = Marshal.load(Marshal.dump(valid_data))
+        request_body[:sponsor][:lastName] = '2Jöhnşon~!\\'
+        expected_sponsor_name = 'Johnson'
+
+        validated_data = IvcChampva::VesDataValidator.validate(request_body)
+
+        expect(validated_data[:sponsor][:lastName]).to eq expected_sponsor_name
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe 'social security number is malformed' do
+    describe 'too long' do
+      it 'raises an exception' do
+        # Deep copy our valid data
+        request_body = Marshal.load(Marshal.dump(valid_data))
+        request_body[:sponsor][:ssn] = '1234567890'
+
+        expect do
+          IvcChampva::VesDataValidator.validate(request_body)
+        end.to raise_error(ArgumentError, 'ssn is invalid. Must be 9 digits (see regex for more detail)')
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end