So frustrated with this whole process. I lost my job in a retail downsizing back in February and applied for unemployment right away. My claim has been pending for 8 weeks now. Every week I certify and get absolutely nothing - not even a determination letter. Today I finally managed to get through to someone on the phone after trying non-stop for days. The lady I spoke with checked my file and just casually told me that I'm not considered "priority" until I hit 10 weeks of waiting! I thought 8 weeks was already ridiculous, but apparently that's not long enough for them to actually help me? My savings are almost gone and my rent is due next week. How can they expect people to survive for 2.5 months with no income while they take their sweet time processing claims? Has anyone else been told they need to wait 10 weeks before they're considered priority? This seems insane to me.

I just got a notification saying I need to prove my 2020 income by July 15th. I'm really confused about exactly what documents they need from my taxes. The website says I can submit either tax returns or paystubs, but doesn't specify which pages of the tax return they need. Has anyone gone through this process already? I was thinking of uploading both my tax return AND my paystubs just to be safe, but I'm not sure if that would complicate things. Anyone know what worked for them? The notification seems pretty serious and I don't want my benefits to get messed up.

Found out last week that someone has been collecting unemployment benefits in my name since December! I had no idea until my employer called me in for a meeting to ask why I filed for unemployment when I'm still working full time. I was completely shocked and told them I never filed anything. They showed me the documents from NY unemployment with my name and social security number. The fraudster has already collected around $9,400 in benefits that I never saw a penny of. I immediately filed a police report and called the fraud department but they put me on hold for 2 hours before disconnecting. I've sent multiple emails with no response. My employer seems suspicious of me despite my 6 years with the company, and I'm terrified this will affect my job or credit score. Has anyone dealt with this kind of identity theft with unemployment? How long did it take to resolve? I'm completely stressed out and don't know what to do next.

My benefits were supposed to start on April 15th, 2023 but here I am more than 2 months later with nothing to show for it. Finally got through to someone on the phone after countless attempts and they told me my case was transferred to a specialist on May 20th because I was terminated from my position. I wasn't even notified about this until the beginning of June! The agent basically said there's nothing they can do and I just have to wait. Meanwhile I've got rent, car payment, insurance, and utilities all piling up. 10 weeks without income is absolutely insane - has anyone else dealt with this kind of delay after being fired? Any advice on how to actually get someone to look at my claim?

Discovered someone used my identity to collect unemployment in 2021 during a routine credit check last November. I was shocked because I've been working this whole time! Immediately reported it to ny unemployment and filed a police report. They confirmed someone collected about $14,800 using my info while I was actually employed. Been fighting for 5 months to get this resolved and get the money they stole using my identity. Department says they escalated to their fraud team and backdate specialists in February, but I haven't heard anything substantial since then. Called at least 20 times and keep getting different answers about timeline. Some agents say 6-8 weeks, others say 6 months to a year! Meanwhile my credit is affected and I'm worried about tax implications. Has anyone successfully recovered benefits that were stolen through identity theft? How long did your case take?