How long after filing unemployment with NYS Department of Labor before first payment arrives?
Just submitted my initial unemployment claim through the NYS Department of Labor website yesterday and I'm wondering what the timeline looks like for actually receiving my first payment. I'm pretty stressed about bills coming up and need to know if I should expect weeks or months before money starts flowing. My claim status currently shows 'under review' but doesn't give any timeframe. Has anyone recently gone through this process and can share how long it took from filing to getting that first direct deposit? I made sure to answer all the questions completely and uploaded my employment verification documents.
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Naila Gordon
Typically takes 2-3 weeks after your initial claim is filed, assuming there are no issues with your application. The NYS Department of Labor has to verify your employment history and wages first. Make sure you're filing your weekly claims even while waiting - you can't get paid for weeks you don't certify for. Your first payment will include back pay for all the weeks you were eligible and filed for.
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Ben Cooper
•Thanks! I wasn't sure about filing weekly claims before being approved. Should I be doing that starting this week?
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Cynthia Love
mine took forever!! like 5 weeks because they had to do some kind of adjudication thing. kept saying pending and i couldnt get anyone on the phone to explain what was happening
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Darren Brooks
•Adjudication delays are unfortunately common when there's any question about your separation from work or eligibility. The key is to keep filing your weekly claims and respond immediately to any requests for additional information from NYS Department of Labor.
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Rosie Harper
If you're having trouble reaching someone at NYS Department of Labor to check on your claim status, I had good luck using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual agent. They have this system that calls for you and connects you when someone picks up. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call myself.
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Elliott luviBorBatman
•How much does that cost though? I'm already broke waiting for unemployment money.
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Rosie Harper
•It's worth checking out - the time savings alone made it worthwhile for me when I was stuck in adjudication limbo for weeks.
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Demi Hall
Just went through this myself last month. Filed on a Tuesday, claim was approved the following Friday, and got my first payment (covering 2 weeks) the Tuesday after that. So about 2.5 weeks total. Key thing is making sure your former employer doesn't contest the claim - that's what causes most delays.
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Mateusius Townsend
The system is so slow now compared to before. Used to be you could get money within a week but now everything takes forever because they're understaffed and the computer systems are ancient. Just be patient and keep filing those weekly claims religiously.
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Victoria Stark
I'm in a similar situation - just filed my claim two days ago and the waiting is nerve-wracking! From what I'm reading here, it sounds like 2-3 weeks is typical if everything goes smoothly. @Ben Cooper, definitely start filing your weekly claims right away - I called the Department of Labor help line yesterday (took forever to get through) and they confirmed you need to certify weekly even while your initial claim is still pending. The rep told me that's one of the biggest mistakes people make that delays their payments. Hang in there!
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Evelyn Rivera
•@Victoria Stark Thanks for sharing that tip about calling the help line! Good to know they confirmed the weekly filing requirement. It s'reassuring to hear from someone else going through the same thing right now. The waiting really is nerve-wracking when you have bills piling up. Did the rep give you any other helpful info about what to expect during the review process?
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Luca Romano
I just went through this process about 6 weeks ago and wanted to share my timeline to help ease some anxiety. Filed my initial claim on a Monday, status showed "under review" for about 10 days, then switched to "approved" on a Thursday. Got my first payment the following Tuesday - so roughly 2 weeks total from filing to money in my account. The payment covered 3 weeks since I had been filing my weekly certifications the whole time (which you should definitely start doing immediately!). One thing that helped speed things up was making sure I had all my documents ready and responded to any DOL requests within 24 hours. Also, don't panic if your status doesn't change for several days - that seems to be normal. The system updates in batches rather than real-time.
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