NY unemployment claim filed 3 weeks ago still showing pending - normal wait time?

This happened to me in January. Took almost 4 weeks for mine to switch from pending to approved. The NYSDOL is seriously backed up right now because of the seasonal layoffs that happened after the holidays. As long as you've submitted all your documents correctly and there aren't any issues with your employment history, it should eventually process. Make sure you're still doing your weekly certifications even while it's pending!

mine took 5 weeks lol. system is a joke. keep certifying tho

Three weeks is actually pretty standard right now. I'm a career counselor who works with lots of people on unemployment. The important things to check: 1. Did you receive an email confirmation when you initially filed? 2. Is your NY.gov ID fully set up with all verification complete? 3. Have you been able to do weekly certifications? 4. Did your former employer contest your claim? If you answered yes to 1-3 and no to 4, you're probably fine and just need to wait. But if you need money urgently, you should definitely try to speak with an agent. Many of my clients have had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a live agent instead of waiting on hold forever. They have a demo video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

I filed on February 25th and mine JUST switched from pending to approved yesterday. So about 3.5 weeks total waiting time. The crazy thing is that I got all my back payments deposited at once! Didn't expect that much money at once. Hang in there!

Has anyone tried emailing instead of calling? I'm having the same issue (filed Feb 28) and still pending but I found an email contact form buried on their website. Just submitted yesterday so not sure if it'll help but worth a try maybe?

Is this your first time filing? Initial claims almost always take longer than continued claims. What a lot of people don't realize is that the NYSDOL has to verify your employment history with ALL employers from your base period (which is the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you filed). If you had multiple employers or if any of them are slow to respond, this can delay things. The 3-week timeline is within normal parameters right now. I would only start to worry if you hit the 5-week mark with no updates. At that point, you should definitely try to speak with someone. Also, make sure you check your message inbox on the NY.gov portal, not just the claim status page. Sometimes they'll request additional documentation there without updating your claim status.

Quick update on my earlier comment - I forgot to mention that back in January when mine was pending, I eventually discovered there was an ID verification hold on my account that nobody told me about! Might be worth checking if there's anything like that on yours. Go to the document section of your account and see if there's anything in there about submitting identity verification.

anyone else notice that claims filed on mondays seem to process faster than ones filed later in the week? my first claim took forever but when i had to refile this year i did it first thing monday morning and it went through in 2 weeks. just a theory but might be something to it

Just to follow up - make sure you're keeping detailed records of all your work search activities while you wait. Many people forget to do this during the pending period, but you're still required to conduct and document at least three work search activities per week. The DOL can request this information retroactively, even for weeks when your claim was still pending.

I had the same pending status for almost 4 weeks. Called like 50 times and could never get through. Finally used that Claimyr service someone mentioned above, got through to an agent in about 20 minutes. Turns out there was a simple verification issue they needed to clear up. Claim was approved the next day and got all my backpay at once. Best $20 I ever spent honestly. The regular phone system is completely useless.

UPDATE: Just wanted to let everyone know my claim finally moved from pending to approved this morning! Exactly 25 days after filing. No intervention needed - it just eventually processed on its own. Thanks for all the advice and reassurance that this was normal. All the back payments were deposited at once like some of you mentioned. Such a relief!