Can you apply for unemployment if you move to another county in NY?
I'm planning to move from Queens to upstate NY next month for cheaper rent, but I'm worried about my unemployment claim. I've been receiving benefits for about 6 weeks now and everything has been going smoothly with my weekly claims. Do I need to notify NYS Department of Labor if I move to a different county? Will this mess up my benefits or require me to reapply? I'm still looking for work in the same field and can commute back to NYC if needed. Just don't want to do anything that could jeopardize my claim status.
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Brianna Muhammad
You definitely need to update your address with NYS Department of Labor as soon as you move. Log into your my.ny.gov account and update your contact information. Moving within NY state shouldn't affect your benefit eligibility at all, but you must keep your address current or it could cause issues with your weekly certifications.
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Camila Castillo
•Thanks! Do I need to call them or is updating online enough? I've heard their phone lines are impossible to get through.
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JaylinCharles
I moved from Buffalo to Rochester last year while on unemployment and had zero problems. Just update your address online and make sure you're still meeting the job search requirements. The NYS Department of Labor doesn't care what county you're in as long as you're actively seeking work and available for employment.
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Eloise Kendrick
•Same here, moved from Syracuse to Albany area and benefits continued without any hiccups.
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Lucas Schmidt
wait i thought you had to stay in the same area where you filed?? i'm confused about this rule because someone told me moving could affect your claim
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Brianna Muhammad
•That's not correct. You can move anywhere within New York state while receiving unemployment benefits. The key is maintaining your work search activities and being available for work. Some people confuse this with out-of-state moves, which have different rules.
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Freya Collins
If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor by phone to confirm this, I recently discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call and getting disconnected.
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Camila Castillo
•Interesting, I'll check that out. Have you used it multiple times or just once?
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Freya Collins
•Just once so far, but it worked great when I needed to resolve an adjudication issue that was holding up my payments.
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LongPeri
Moving within state is fine but PLEASE update your address immediately. I forgot to update mine when I moved and it caused a delay in my benefits because they couldn't verify my identity during a routine check.
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Adaline Wong
Just went through this exact situation! Moved from Manhattan to Albany in January while on unemployment. The process is super straightforward - just log into your NY.gov account and update your address in the "Personal Information" section. I also updated it during my weekly certification just to be safe. My benefits continued without any interruption. The only thing to keep in mind is that you still need to be actively searching for work and available to accept employment, so make sure you can realistically commute to job opportunities in your field. Since you mentioned you can commute back to NYC if needed, you should be totally fine. Good luck with the move!
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Evan Kalinowski
•This is really helpful, thank you! I was getting worried about nothing. One quick question - when you say you updated it during your weekly certification "just to be safe," do you mean there's a specific section for address changes in the weekly claim form, or did you just make sure your profile was updated before filing that week?
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