NY unemployment approved 2 months ago but no payment - still waiting after approval letter

He definitely needs to call. Getting the monetary determination letter only means they calculated what he COULD get, not that they've actually approved his claim to start receiving payments. There's probably an issue they need to resolve - could be identity verification, employment history review, or something else holding up the actual payments. Don't wait any longer!

I had almost the exact same situation in February. Got the monetary determination letter but no payments for 7 weeks. Turns out they needed additional verification from my previous employer but never notified me. You NEED to get through to a live agent. In my experience, the best times to call are Tuesday-Thursday between 8:00-8:30am or 4:30-5:00pm when call volume is slightly lower. Be prepared with his NY.gov ID, SSN, and all employment details from the past 18 months when you call.

The system is COMPLETELY BROKEN in 2025!!! I waited 11 weeks with NO COMMUNICATION whatsoever after getting that same exact letter. Every week certifying like a good citizen and NOTHING!!! When I finally got through they said there was a "flag" on my account that needed to be removed but NOBODY BOTHERED TO TELL ME. How are we supposed to know these things if they don't communicate?!?! The entire system is designed to frustrate people into giving up their rightful benefits.

After getting my monetary determination letter I got paid the next week but my brother in law had a similar situation to yours where he waited almost two months. Turns out it was something silly like his address format didn't match what they had on file from his W2 or something. Definitely call!

I was in this exact situation back in January. Tried calling for weeks but couldn't get through. I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in about 20 minutes after trying for weeks on my own. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE - it was honestly the only way I finally got my issue resolved. My problem was they had put an identity verification hold on my account but never sent me the notification email. Once I talked to someone, payments started flowing within days including all backpay.

sometimes this happens when they need to verify certain things. my neighbor waited like 10 weeks before his started coming. have him check his online account messages and see if theres anything there saying what the hold up is?

he needs 2 call them ASAP!!! my husband had the same issue and it turned out there was a flag on his account for something stupid. once he got thru on the phone it was fixed in like 5 min and all the backpay came the next week.

There's a specific issue happening right now with claims filed in mid-January. The system had a glitch where it was sending determination letters but wasn't properly activating payment processing. When you call, specifically mention that he filed around January 15th and received the determination letter but no payments have processed. This will help the agent identify the issue faster. The NYSDOL is aware of this problem but hasn't been proactively contacting affected claimants.

I just went through something similar! I got approved end of December but nothing came through until Valentine's Day. So frustrating! I was checking my bank account every morning hoping to see something. When I finally got through on the phone they said something about a "pending review status" that nobody told me about. The system is so broken.

I tried that Claimyr service someone mentioned above after struggling for THREE WEEKS to reach anyone. It actually worked - got me through to an agent in about 15 minutes. My issue was similar - had the determination letter but no payments. Turned out they had a question about my previous employer but never bothered to tell me! Once I spoke to someone, I got all my backpay within 48 hours. The whole unemployment system seems designed to make you give up.