EDD certifying by mail when ID.me locked - can she use phone too? Urgent deadline question!

yea she can certify by phone too its called telecert 1-866-333-4606 but make sure she doesnt do both mail AND phone or it might flag her account for fraud. tell her to pick 1 way and stick with it

For mail certifications, it's the postmark date that matters, not when EDD receives it. As long as it's postmarked by the deadline date, she's fine. But honestly, the telecert phone system is much faster - benefits usually process within 24-48 hours after phone certification, while mail can take 7-10 days to be processed after they receive it. Regarding the ID.me lock issue, she should call EDD's technical support line at 1-833-978-2511 to request they reset her ID.me verification attempts. They can usually unlock it within 1-2 business days so she can get back to certifying online, which is much more reliable than mail.

I work with EDD claims regularly, and I can confirm that mail certifications need to be postmarked by the due date, not received. However, your daughter should know that mail certifications typically take 10-14 days to process once EDD receives them, which means payment will be significantly delayed compared to online or phone certification. The Telecert system is definitely faster, but has limitations - she can only use it if she had zero earnings and is answering "No" to all the eligibility questions. If she needs to report earnings or has complex answers, mail is the only alternative to UI Online. Regarding the ID.me lock, this is extremely common. The technical support line rarely resolves this quickly. I'd recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to connect with an EDD representative who can help with both the ID.me reset and confirming her certification status. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km - I used them when my account got locked and was back online certifying the same day.

AVOID MAILING CERTIFICATIONS AT ALL COSTS!!! I mailed mine in December because my account was locked and guess what? EDD "never received it" and I had to go through WEEKS of appeals and verification to get my payments. The mail system is BROKEN! Phone certification is way more reliable but they don't tell you that the system doesn't work if you have ANY earnings to report. The stupid telecert doesn't let you enter work hours or income which is RIDICULOUS. Honestly the only REAL solution is to fix the ID.me issue. The EDD's entire system is designed to make it impossible to get your benefits!!!!

Just wanted to add my experience - I had the same ID.me lockout last month. What worked for me was sending an email to UIOnline@edd.ca.gov explaining the situation AND calling the 833 number multiple times. Eventually got through after about 15 calls and they fixed my account in about 5 minutes. For the certification, if she's going the mail route, I highly recommend sending it certified mail with tracking so you have proof it was sent on time. My coworker had issues with EDD claiming they never received his forms. Also, take clear photos of the completed form before mailing just in case.

does ur daughter have the paper DE 4581 form already? if not she needs to call and request it cuz u cant just mail any paper for certification it has to be the official form with the barcode

I just wanted to follow up on my earlier comment about ID.me. If your daughter continues having problems with ID.me verification after the reset, make sure she's using the exact same documentation that she used when initially creating her EDD account. Any discrepancies between her original application info and ID.me verification can cause rejections. Also, sometimes browsers can cause issues with ID.me - Chrome tends to work best, and make sure to clear cache and cookies before attempting verification again. Lastly, for this current certification, if she's eligible for Telecert (no earnings to report), that's definitely the fastest option to get her benefits while working on the ID.me issue as a longer-term solution.