My husband filed for ny unemployment 4 weeks ago - no approval letter, no calls, nothing!

Welcome to New York unemployment hell. I waited 7 weeks last year before I saw a dime. Keep trying to call every single day, different times. Early morning (right when they open) worked for me eventually. Sorry you're going through this garbage system.

I was in this exact situation back in April. What finally worked for me was using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com). It basically calls NYSDOL for you, stays on hold, and then connects you to an agent when someone picks up. Talking to a real person got my claim moving within days. Best money I've ever spent to get my benefits flowing. There's even a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

Have you tried contacting your local state representative's office? That's what finally worked for me. They have special contacts at the unemployment office who can push claims through faster.

LISTEN UP! I work adjacent to this system (not for NYSDOL directly) and here's what you need to know about the current NY unemployment situation: Unfortunately right now there's a huge backlog of claims because they're still dealing with massive fraud issues from the past few years. Many claims get flagged for identity verification even when there's nothing wrong with them. Here are your best options: 1. Call repeatedly until you get through. Yes, it's horrible, but it's what works. Some people have success using claimyr.com to handle the calling/waiting part. 2. Contact your state assembly person AND state senator. Both of them. They can escalate cases. 3. If you're active on Twitter, the @NYSLabor account does actually escalate cases, but be persistent and DM them your info (no personal details in public tweets). 4. Check your online account daily for any notices or requests for additional documentation. 5. If you've been waiting over 3 weeks, it's likely your claim needs manual review. Only speaking to a human will resolve this. Hang in there. The system is deeply flawed but eventually does pay out.

Your husband needs to certify each week even if he hasn't been approved yet! A lot of people miss this step. He should go in every Sunday and certify that he was available for work, looking for work, etc.

check if his account shows "pending" or something else... mine said "pending" for 3 weeks and then suddenly changed to "additional information needed" but they NEVER contacted me about it, had to find it by checking the website myself

The EXACT same thing happened to me. I was stuck in limbo for 5 weeks. What finally worked was contacting my state senator's office. They have a staff person who deals with unemployment issues specifically. I sent them my info on a Monday and by Friday my claim was approved with all backpay. Try that route!

i waited 8 weeks for my claim to process this spring... NY unemployment is a dumpster fire rn 🔥

This is what I did to get my claim unstuck: 1. Called right at 8:00am when they open 2. If that didn't work, tried again at 4:30pm 3. Used all phone options that get to a human - sometimes pressing 9 works 4. Contacted my state assembly person 5. Found claimyr.com which let me skip the hold time Eventually got through and had everything fixed in one call. Keep pushing! The system is designed to make you give up.

check your spam folder for emails!!! they sent me 3 emails asking for additional documents and they ALL went to spam. I almost lost my benefits bc of it.

The unemployment system in New York is an absolute JOKE. took me 11 weeks to get my first payment last year and thats WITH calling them every single day

Have u checked the online message center? Sometimes they send messages there but don't email you about them. Log in and check the inbox, might be something waiting there.

I feel your pain so much. This system is desgned to frustrate people into giving up. Don't! My advice: document EVERYTHING. Every time you call, every message, every attempt. That way when you finally reach someone you can prove you've been trying.

Took me 6 weeks and calling everyday (sometimes 20+ times) to get through. The NY unemployment system is straight up designed to make it hard to collect benefits. Keep at it!

try calling this number instead of the main one: [number removed]. its a special claims processing line and i got through waaaaay faster

Make sure your husband continues to certify for benefits every week while waiting! You can claim all those weeks once approved but only if you've been certifying!

Do NOT give up. I was in the exact same boat, waited 5 weeks with no communication at all. Finally got through using claimyr.com (saves you from the hold time hell) and it turned out there was a simple flag on my account they fixed in 3 minutes. Got all my backpay two days later. The system is broken but keep fighting!