This is such a valuable thread for new EDD users! I just filed my claim about a month ago and have been super anxious about certification timing. I actually bookmarked this discussion because seeing Leo's real experience - forgetting to certify on Saturday, doing it Sunday morning, and still getting paid on schedule - is exactly the kind of reassurance I needed. The community knowledge here is incredible. I've been treating Saturday certification like a life-or-death deadline, but clearly EDD designed the system with more flexibility than I realized. Really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences and helping newcomers like me understand how things actually work versus how we imagine they work!

This thread is exactly what I needed! I'm brand new to EDD (literally just got approved last week) and I've been stressing SO much about certification timing. I was convinced there was some secret optimal time to certify for faster payments. Seeing Leo's real-time experience from panic to successful payment is incredibly reassuring. I've been planning my entire weekend around Saturday morning certification like it's some kind of sacred ritual! 😅 It's such a relief to learn that the whole weekend is fair game. The detailed explanation about the Saturday 12:01 AM to Sunday 11:59 PM window is super helpful - wish EDD made that clearer on their website. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and helping us newbies understand how this actually works!

Just wanted to share another potential solution that worked for me when I faced this same issue a few months ago! If you have a local EDD office near you, sometimes walking in person can be way more effective than trying to call. I know not everyone has this option depending on location and office hours, but the staff there were able to help me reset my security questions after verifying my identity with my ID and Social Security card. The wait was about 2 hours, but still way better than the endless phone loop. They also gave me a printout with my recent payment history so I could write down the key details for future reference. Just another option to consider if Claimyr doesn't work out or if you prefer handling things in person. Really glad this thread exists - it's like having a survival guide for dealing with EDD's broken systems! The community support here is amazing.

Wow, this entire thread has been such a learning experience! As someone completely new to both this community and dealing with EDD, I'm honestly shocked at how many people have faced this exact same account lockout nightmare. The fact that EDD expects perfect recall of payment details from months ago is absolutely ridiculous - who remembers exact dollar amounts that far back?! I'm taking detailed notes on all the solutions mentioned here. The Claimyr service sounds amazing based on everyone's success stories, and I had no idea that visiting EDD offices in person was even an option anymore. The creative workarounds people found (old text messages, tax forms, duplicate mail) really show how resourceful this community is when dealing with broken government systems. Already setting up my "EDD survival kit" based on all the prevention tips shared here - dedicated email folder, spreadsheet with key details, screenshots of everything important. It's sad that we need to create these elaborate backup systems just to access our own benefits, but better safe than sorry! Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions. @Jacinda Yu your success story gives real hope, and @Dmitry Petrov the in-person office tip is brilliant! This community is such an invaluable resource for navigating these bureaucratic mazes.

Just wanted to add another perspective as someone who went through this exact same situation a few months ago. The credit freeze issue is absolutely real and such a hidden problem! But I also discovered that if you have any kind of identity monitoring service (like through your bank or credit card company), those can sometimes interfere too because they put alerts on your credit file. One more thing that helped me - after lifting the credit freeze, I waited about 24 hours before trying ID.me again. Apparently it can take time for the freeze lift to propagate through all the systems they check against. I was so eager to try immediately after lifting it that I got rejected again, which was super discouraging. Also, pro tip: screenshot everything during the verification process! If something goes wrong during the video call or the system glitches, having screenshots of your progress can help when you contact support. The ID.me customer service is actually pretty helpful once you can get through to them (unlike EDD lol). Hope this helps anyone else dealing with this nightmare! The system is definitely designed to be frustrating, but persistence really does pay off.

As someone who just joined this community while dealing with my own ID.me nightmare, this entire thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I had no idea about the credit freeze issue - I've been stuck for almost 2 weeks thinking it was just bad photo quality. Reading through everyone's experiences, it's clear that ID.me's error messaging is absolutely terrible. They should just tell you "credit freeze detected" instead of making you think your documents are the problem. It's almost like they want people to give up! I'm definitely going to try the credit freeze lift + 24 hour wait approach that @Owen Devar mentioned. And @Amara Nnamani's tip about temporary 30-day lifts is brilliant - I was worried about leaving my credit permanently unprotected. Thank you @Diego Castillo for starting this discussion and especially for coming back with updates. Success stories like yours give the rest of us hope that we can actually get through this broken system. Fingers crossed I'll have my own success update to share soon!

Huge congratulations Miguel! This is fantastic news after your long job search. I went through this exact same situation last year and can confirm what everyone else is saying - you absolutely don't need to report the job offer in advance or call EDD. Just continue your normal certification schedule. Here's what worked for me: Keep certifying as usual until January 23rd. When you certify for that week, answer "YES" to working/earning money and report only the hours and gross pay for the days you actually worked (probably Jan 23-25). The system automatically calculates any partial benefits you might qualify for. A couple things that helped me during the transition: Save screenshots of your certifications for your records, keep track of your exact work hours that first partial week (I used my phone's notes app), and remember you report based on when you worked, not when you get your first paycheck. The whole process ended up being much smoother than I expected. You've already conquered the hardest part - finding the job! The EDD reporting is straightforward when you get to it. Best of luck with your new position!

Congratulations Miguel! That's amazing news after 4 months of searching. I just went through this exact situation in November and can confirm what everyone else is saying - no need to report the job offer in advance or stress about calling EDD. Here's exactly what I did: I kept certifying normally through my last week before starting work. When I certified for the week that included my start date, I answered "YES" to the work/earnings question and entered my hours and gross pay for just the days I actually worked that week. The system walked me through it step by step. A few practical tips that helped me: Download the EDD app if you haven't already - it makes certifying much easier than the website. Take a photo of your work schedule that first week so you have exact hours when you certify. And don't worry if your first paycheck is delayed - you report based on hours worked, not payment received. The transition was honestly way less complicated than I expected. You've got the hardest part done - landing the job! The EDD stuff is just paperwork. Wishing you all the best with your new position!

I'm currently going through this identity verification process too! Just got my letter last week and I've been reading through everyone's experiences here - this is so helpful. It sounds like the consensus is that doing both the mail verification AND the online ID.me process is the best approach to speed things up. I'm planning to start with the ID.me verification this weekend since it seems like that's giving people faster results. Really relieved to hear from multiple people that they do backpay for the missed days - that was my biggest worry since I can't afford to lose any payments right now. Has anyone had issues with the ID.me verification not working properly, or does it usually go smoothly? I want to make sure I'm prepared before I start the process. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences, it makes this whole situation feel way less overwhelming!

I just completed my identity verification last week and wanted to share my experience! I received the letter about 10 days ago and was really stressed about the whole process. After reading through all these helpful comments, I decided to do both the mail verification AND the online ID.me route to be safe. The ID.me verification was actually much easier than I expected - took about 20 minutes and I used my driver's license plus a recent credit card statement for address verification. Got approved within 24 hours online! I also sent the physical documents by mail just as backup. My payments just resumed yesterday (about 6 days after ID.me approval) and I did receive backpay for all the missed days during the verification period. One thing I noticed is that my EDD portal showed "Identity Verification Pending" until the day before payments resumed, then it just disappeared from my account overview. For anyone still going through this - definitely try the online route first, but keep copies of everything you submit. The peace of mind is worth it!