NY unemployment review period stuck at 4 weeks - is this normal wait time?

I went through the EXACT same thing in January. Mine was 'under review' for almost 5 weeks before it finally got approved. The NYSDOL website says 2-3 weeks is normal, but from what I've seen in 2025, they're super backed up. I ended up using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to actually reach a live agent after trying for days. They got me through to someone in about 20 minutes who told me my claim needed one more verification step that wasn't showing on my portal. Check out their demo video if you're interested: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE - saved me a ton of stress when I was in your exact situation.

The standard review period for NY unemployment claims should be 2-3 weeks, but there are several factors that can extend this timeframe: 1. Employer response delays - your former employer has 10 business days to respond to the claim 2. Identity verification issues 3. Wage discrepancies that need manual review 4. High volume periods (particularly January-March) At 4 weeks, I would recommend calling the NYSDOL directly at 888-209-8124. Be prepared for long wait times, but it's worth asking if there's any specific information they need from you that might be holding up your claim. Make sure you continue to certify for benefits weekly even while your claim is pending. Once approved, you'll receive all backdated payments for weeks properly certified.

mine took 6 weeks last year, my friend got hers in 10 days last month. seems totally random tbh

You might want to check if your claim has any outstanding issues that need addressing. Log into your NY.gov account, go to your unemployment dashboard, and look for any alerts or messages in the "Messages" section. Sometimes they need additional documentation but don't contact you directly about it. Also, did you receive a monetary determination letter? This is different from approval - it just tells you how much you qualify for IF approved. Many people confuse this with actual approval.

lol welcome to NY unemployment! my cousin waited 7 weeks then suddenly got approved out of nowhere. its all a mess right now with their new system. just keep certifying and eventually ull get paid for all those weeks at once

I know im commenting again but have you tried calling right when they open at 8am? Thats supposedly the best time but even then its nearly impossible. The Claimyr service I mentioned before was the only thing that worked for me after trying for days.

i had this happen in december and when I FINALLY got through to someone they said my claim had an "eligibility issue" that wasn't even showing on my account!!! turns out they had entered my last day of work incorrectly and the system flagged it. might be worth checking if something similar happened to you.

UPDATE: Finally got through to NYSDOL! Used the Claimyr service mentioned above and it actually worked - got me through to an agent in about 25 minutes. Turns out there was an issue with my identity verification (even though I uploaded all the documents they asked for). The agent manually verified my ID and said my claim should be processed within 3-5 business days. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

FINAL UPDATE: Just wanted to close the loop here. My claim was approved yesterday and I received all my backdated payments today! Took exactly 4 days after speaking with the agent. Thanks again for everyone's help!

This thread is incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - been waiting 3 weeks for my NY unemployment claim to move from "pending review" status. Reading through everyone's experiences here gives me hope that it's normal (even if frustrating) and that there are actual solutions like the Claimyr service. It's reassuring to see that @Jibriel Kohn got their full back pay once everything was resolved. Going to try calling at 8am again tomorrow, but if that doesn't work I'll definitely look into that calling service. Thanks for documenting the whole process - this is exactly the kind of real-world info that's hard to find elsewhere!

Just wanted to add my recent experience to help others! I filed my NY unemployment claim in early February and it took exactly 5 weeks to get approved. Like @Jibriel Kohn, mine was stuck on "review in progress" with no additional messages or alerts in my account. I tried calling the regular NYSDOL line dozens of times with no luck - always got disconnected or busy signals. Finally broke down and used the Claimyr service everyone mentioned here, and it was honestly worth every penny. Got through to an agent in about 15 minutes who found that my claim was flagged because my previous employer took the full 10 business days to respond (even though they didn't contest it). Once the agent noted that in my file, I was approved within 2 business days and got all my back pay. The waiting is absolutely brutal when you're stressed about money, but it really does seem like most of these delays are just system backlogs rather than actual issues with people's claims. Keep certifying weekly no matter what - you'll get paid for all those weeks once it goes through!