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NY unemployment verification issues - no payment despite claiming weekly benefits

I'm so frustrated with the NY unemployment system right now. I completed my initial claim about 3 weeks ago, got approved, and have been diligently certifying every week as required. The system shows all my weekly certifications as 'completed' but I haven't received ANY payments to my account. The status just says 'pending' with no explanation. The verification process supposedly went through (I uploaded my ID documents and everything), but still nothing has happened. Is there some extra verification step I'm missing? How long does it typically take for payments to actually start arriving after verification? And most importantly - does anyone know ANY way to actually reach a human being at NYSDOL? I've called the main number about 30 times and it's either busy or disconnects me after going through the menu options.

LongPeri

Unfortunately this is super common with NY unemployment in 2025. The system verification can get stuck in a weird limbo state where it says you're approved but your payments are still pending additional review. This usually happens when there's some discrepancy in your work history or the system flagged something for manual review. After verification and weekly certification, you should typically see payments within 2-3 business days max. Since it's been 3 weeks, something is definitely wrong.

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Freya Collins

That's exactly what I was afraid of... some mysterious 'flag' on my account. But I've reported everything accurately! Is there any way to find out what triggered the review or how long it might take?

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Oscar O'Neil

i had this happen in january. turns out my previous employer disputed my claim saying i quit (i didnt, they reduced my hours so much i couldnt pay rent). took me FOREVER to get someone on the phone to fix it

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Freya Collins

Oh no, I hope that's not what's happening with mine. How did you finally get through to someone?

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Sara Hellquiem

The NY unemployment phone system is absolutely broken by design. I was in your exact situation last month - verified everything correctly but payments stuck in pending. I wasted about 40 hours trying to call before I discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com). It's this service that actually calls NYSDOL for you and connects you with an agent when they answer. Totally saved my sanity and got my issue resolved in one day after waiting for weeks. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

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Charlee Coleman

is that even legit?? sounds like a scam to get desperate people's info

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Sara Hellquiem

It's legitimate. I was skeptical too but I was desperate after weeks of no payments. The service just helps you skip the phone queue. The agent I spoke with fixed my issue in about 10 minutes - turned out they needed employment verification from my previous job but never sent me any notification about it.

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Freya Collins

I'm starting to panic a bit. Rent is due next week and I was counting on at least getting one payment by now. Has anyone had their payments suddenly go through after being stuck like this? Or is calling really the ONLY way to fix it? I've tried sending messages through the online portal but no response there either.

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Liv Park

Deep breath - this is fixable. To directly answer your question: no, these issues rarely resolve themselves without speaking to someone. The NYSDOL system has several verification checkpoints: identity verification, wage verification, and eligibility verification. Your claim is likely stuck at one of these stages. You need to: 1) Check your message inbox AND email daily (sometimes notices get filtered as spam), 2) Continue certifying weekly even without payments, 3) Get through to a representative who can see exactly what's flagged in the system. If you've already tried the main number during off-peak hours (try Wednesday-Thursday before 9am or after 4pm), then you might need assistance getting through the phone system as suggested above.

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Oscar O'Neil

sometimes they just randomly start working again lol. I had payments stop for 2 wks then suddenly got EVERYTHING at once. no explanation

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Leeann Blackstein

THEY DO THIS ON PURPOSE!!! The whole system is designed to be impossible to navigate so people give up claiming what they're legally entitled to. I've been through this 3 times since 2025 started. Each time it was something different - once they claimed they "couldn't verify my identity" even though I uploaded every document they asked for. Another time they said I hadn't responded to some questionnaire THAT THEY NEVER SENT ME. The ONLY way to fix it is to actually talk to someone. But they make that nearly IMPOSSIBLE because they're UNDERSTAFFED and the phone system is from 1995!!!!!

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Freya Collins

That's what I'm afraid of - some form or questionnaire I never received. How did you eventually get through to fix your issues?

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Leeann Blackstein

First time I literally called 200+ times over 3 days. Second time I used a friend's trick of calling right when they open but pressing the Spanish option then asking for English when someone answered (felt bad but was desperate). Third time I broke down and used one of those call services because I couldn't afford to spend another day hitting redial.

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Charlee Coleman

make sure ur answering the certification questions right. my brother kept answering yes to "were you ready and available to work" when he was actually in school part time and that flagged his account for weeks

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Freya Collins

I've double-checked all my certification answers and I'm pretty sure they're all correct. I'm not in school and have been available for work every day.

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Ryder Greene

Have you checked if there are any notices in your online account? Sometimes they send important verification requests through the portal rather than email or mail. Also, what does your payment history page show? Does it show $0 payments or no entries at all?

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Freya Collins

I've checked everywhere in the account. No notices or messages in the portal. My payment history shows the weeks I've certified but with "pending" status and $0 amount. No explanation or additional information anywhere.

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LongPeri

That "pending" with $0 means your certification was received but payment is held for additional verification. Based on the timeline, I strongly suspect one of three issues: 1. Your identity verification needs additional manual review 2. Your previous employer provided information that conflicts with your claim 3. There's a technical issue with your banking information Unfortunately, all three require speaking with an agent. The fact that you've been trying for three weeks without any update means something is stuck in the system.

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Freya Collins

Well I tried that Claimyr service mentioned above and it actually worked! Got through to an agent this morning after weeks of trying. Turns out my previous employer reported different wages than what I claimed (they were counting my final paycheck wrong). The agent cleared it up and said my payments should process within 3 business days. Huge relief! Thanks everyone for the advice.

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Liv Park

Glad to hear you got it resolved! For anyone else reading this thread with similar issues: always continue certifying weekly even if payments aren't coming through. Once the issue is resolved, you'll receive all back payments for properly certified weeks. Also, remember to check both your email spam folder AND your online message inbox regularly, as important notices can appear in either place.

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Charlee Coleman

so wat was the trick that finally worked? the claimyr thing?

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Freya Collins

Yes, the Claimyr service got me through to an agent after weeks of trying on my own. Expensive but worth it in my situation since I was about to miss rent payments.

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