Congratulations on landing the job! Just to add one more perspective - I went through this same situation about 6 months ago and everything worked out fine following the advice others have given here. The key things that helped me were: 1) Keep doing ALL 5 work searches every week until July 5th (I know it feels pointless but DEO doesn't care), 2) Answer YES when they ask about accepting work and put your start date, 3) Still answer YES to being available for work until you actually start. I was paranoid about messing something up so I also called the employer to double-confirm my start date a week before starting. The transition from UI to regular paychecks went smoothly and I didn't lose any benefits I was entitled to. You're in the home stretch - just keep following the same routine for 3 more weeks!

I went through this exact same situation last fall! One thing I want to emphasize that others have touched on - make absolutely sure you understand the difference between "accepting a job offer" and "starting work" when filling out your weekly claims. DEO considers you unemployed until your actual first day of work, not when you accept the offer. I made the mistake of overthinking this and almost talked myself out of claiming benefits I was entitled to. Also, if your new employer offers any pre-employment activities (like orientation, paperwork, drug testing, etc.) before your official start date, those usually don't count as "work" unless you're being paid for them. Just keep doing exactly what you've been doing - the 5 work searches, weekly claims, staying available - until July 5th. The system is set up to handle this transition period, even though it doesn't feel very intuitive! Best of luck with the new job!

UPDATE: I finally got through to someone who could help! I followed the advice here and: 1. Called at 7:31am Thursday morning 2. Asked specifically for a 'Tier 2 specialist callback' instead of just escalation 3. Mentioned I qualified for expedited hardship review after 3+ months The agent actually took me seriously and transferred me to someone with more authority (not sure if actual supervisor but definitely higher tier). They found the issue - apparently there was a mismatch between my reported wages and what my employer reported, which triggered an automatic hold. They cleared it on the spot and said my payments should process within 3 business days! Thank you all for the help. This forum literally saved me!

Congratulations on finally getting through! Your success story gives me hope. I've been dealing with a similar situation for about 6 weeks now - my claim has been stuck in "pending" status and every rep just tells me it's been escalated. I'm definitely going to try your approach tomorrow morning. Quick question - when you mentioned the expedited hardship review, did you have to provide any specific documentation or proof of hardship, or was the 3+ month wait time enough? Also, did the higher tier person you spoke with give you any kind of case number or reference for the resolution? Thanks for sharing what worked - this community is honestly more helpful than the actual DEO sometimes!

One important detail about the ID.me video verification option: make sure you're initiating this process directly through the link in your CONNECT portal. If you just go to ID.me separately, the verification won't automatically link to your DEO account even if you complete it successfully. I made this mistake and had to do the whole process twice.

I'm so glad to see this thread helped you get through the verification process! The CareerSource suggestion was brilliant - they really are underutilized resources for these kinds of technical issues. For anyone else reading this who might be in a similar situation, I'd also recommend checking if your local library has phones available for public use. Some branches have phones specifically for people dealing with government services, and the librarians are usually pretty understanding about these kinds of urgent situations. The key thing is just getting access to ANY working phone number temporarily, even if it's not "yours" - as long as you can receive the verification text in real time, ID.me will accept it.

@OP regarding your question about part-time work - yes, that could potentially help you qualify for a new claim when your benefit year ends. To qualify for a new claim, you need to have earned wages in at least 2 quarters of your base period (which will be the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you apply). You also need to have earned at least $3,800 total during your base period. Keep all your pay stubs and employment information - you'll need it when filing a new claim. And for what it's worth, while Florida's system is frustrating, the DEO website has improved a bit since 2020-2021. The information is there, just not always easy to find. Always check both the main CONNECT dashboard AND your inbox for important updates about your claim status and remaining benefits.

Just wanted to add one more tip that helped me - if you're worried about missing important notifications from DEO, make sure to check your spam/junk email folder regularly. I almost missed my benefit exhaustion notice because it went to spam! Also, the CONNECT mobile app sometimes shows notifications that don't appear on the desktop version, so it's worth checking both. And definitely keep screenshots of your monetary status page showing your remaining benefits - I've heard of people having issues where the numbers changed unexpectedly and having documentation helped when they had to call DEO to sort it out.

One additional note - after the first payment goes through following your bank change, make sure your next claimed weeks don't have any issues. Sometimes there can be a cascade effect where the first delay triggers additional verification requirements. If you don't receive your payment by next Tuesday (which would be 7 business days), then you should definitely contact DEO directly to ensure there isn't something else going on with your claim.

I went through this exact same situation about 6 months ago when I switched from my credit union to TD Bank. The waiting period is nerve-wracking, especially when you have bills coming due! In my case, it took exactly 6 business days for the payment to show up in my new account. One thing that helped me during the wait was setting up account alerts on my new Chase account so I'd get notified immediately when the deposit hit. Also, if you haven't already, take a screenshot of your CONNECT account showing the "processed" status and your updated bank info - just in case you need it later if something goes wrong. The good news is that once this first payment clears, future payments should go back to the normal 1-2 day processing time. Hang in there - you're probably just a day or two away from seeing that deposit!