What time can I certify for NY unemployment on Sundays - midnight or morning?

You can certify anytime after 12:01am on Sunday. i do it late night all the time when i get home from work

The official NYSDOL system allows you to certify for weekly benefits anytime between 12:01 AM Sunday and 11:59 PM the following Saturday. I've found Sunday mornings around 7-8 AM to be the most reliable time with fewer system glitches, but technically the system is available immediately after midnight. Just a reminder to have your work search activities documented before you begin certification.

Be carefull certifying right at midnite, sometimes the system is slow or updating and your certification might not go thru properly. I tried once at 12:15am and got an error message, had to do it again in the morning

I always do mine right after midnight and I've never had a problem except once when the entire website was down for maintenance (but they had posted a notice about that). The earlier you certify, the earlier you get paid! If you do it right at 12:01 Sunday, you'll usually get your payment by Tuesday.

I tried doing it at midnight once and the website was SO SLOW it took almost 30 minutes just to complete the certification! The system gets really bogged down right after midnight because everyone has the same idea. I always wait until Sunday afternoon now and it takes like 2 minutes tops.

The system is technically available 24/7, but there are optimal times to certify. While you can certify right after midnight, many people try to do this which can slow the system down. Sunday mornings between 7-10 AM tend to have fewer users and faster processing times. Also keep in mind that system maintenance sometimes occurs during overnight hours, though they typically announce this in advance on the NYSDOL website. For anyone having persistent trouble reaching a claims specialist about certification issues, I've had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com) which helps you bypass the phone wait times. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

Anyone know if there's a best day to certify? I alwaus do mine on Monday mornings and get paid by Wednesay. Does it make a difference if you do it Sunday vs other days of the week for when the $ hits your account??

The website sometimes kicks me out no matter what time i try so i just keep trying till it works lol. sundays at like 3am seems to work ok for me.

Last weekend the system was down from 2am-4am on Sunday for maintenance. I was so annoyed because I tried right after midnight and it was super slow, so I decided to take a nap and try again at 3am... and couldn't get in at all! They did post a notice but it was buried deep in the website. Just check for maintenance notices before you try at weird hours.

To summarize for everyone: You can certify anytime from 12:01 AM Sunday through 11:59 PM Saturday. However, the optimal times for system performance are typically: - Sunday between 7-10 AM (good balance of early certification and system performance) - Sunday between 2-5 PM (less traffic than morning) - Monday-Wednesday mornings (very fast processing but delays payment by a day for each day you wait) The system occasionally undergoes maintenance during overnight hours on weekends, so checking for notices if you plan to certify during late night/early morning hours is recommended.

I've been certifying right at midnight for months now and honestly it's hit or miss. Some weeks it goes through perfectly fine in under 5 minutes, other weeks the site crawls or I get timeout errors. What I've started doing is having a backup plan - if midnight doesn't work smoothly, I just wait until Sunday around 9am when it's usually much faster. The peace of mind is worth potentially waiting a few extra hours for payment. Also pro tip: make sure you're logged out completely before trying to certify, sometimes having old sessions causes issues.

I've been doing midnight certifications for about 6 months now and here's what I've learned: the system is definitely available right at 12:01 AM, but performance varies wildly. During busy weeks (like after holidays or when there's been system issues earlier), midnight can be a nightmare with timeouts and slow loading. But during normal weeks, it works fine and you do get paid faster. My strategy now is to try at midnight, but if the first page takes more than 30 seconds to load, I bail and come back Sunday morning around 8-9 AM. Also, clear your browser cache before certifying - I've noticed it helps with loading speeds. One last thing: if you're on mobile, the desktop site works way better than the mobile version, especially during peak times.

I've been certifying at different times over the past year and wanted to share my experience. The system is technically available from 12:01 AM Sunday, but I've found the sweet spot is actually around 1-2 AM. By then, the initial midnight rush has died down but you're still getting in early for faster payment processing. I tried the immediate midnight approach for a few weeks but ran into the same slow loading issues others mentioned. The 1-2 AM window seems to have the best balance - fewer people online but still early enough that you typically get paid by Tuesday. Just make sure you have all your work search info ready before you start, because even though the system is less crowded at that time, you don't want to be scrambling for information and risk timing out.

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who's tried almost every time slot mentioned here! I've been on unemployment for about 8 months and have experimented with different certification times. Here's what I've found: Midnight works about 60% of the time without issues, 1-2 AM (like Owen suggested) works about 80% of the time, and Sunday morning 7-9 AM works about 95% of the time. The trade-off is obviously getting paid a day or two later if you wait for morning, but the reliability is much better. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that the mobile app seems to handle peak times better than the website - not sure why, but I've had better luck with the app during busy periods. Also, if you do get kicked out or encounter errors, wait at least 15 minutes before trying again. I learned the hard way that repeatedly trying immediately after an error can temporarily lock your account. Hope this helps!

I'm new to unemployment and this thread has been incredibly helpful! As someone who's never had to certify before, I was planning to just wing it and try whenever I remembered, but seeing all these different strategies and timing considerations makes me realize there's actually some skill involved in getting the best experience. Based on everyone's advice, I think I'm going to start with the reliable Sunday morning 7-9 AM approach that multiple people recommended, especially since StarSeeker's data shows it works 95% of the time. Once I get comfortable with the certification process itself, maybe I'll experiment with the earlier time slots to get faster payments. One quick question - for those who've used the mobile app during peak times, do you still need to log out completely beforehand like Javier mentioned for the website? Really appreciate this community sharing all these practical tips!

I've been certifying for unemployment for about 4 months now and wanted to share what's worked consistently for me. I tried the midnight approach a few times but like others mentioned, it's really unpredictable - sometimes lightning fast, sometimes painfully slow. What I've settled on is Sunday around 6 AM. It's early enough that I still get paid by Tuesday most weeks, but late enough that I avoid the midnight rush and any potential overnight maintenance windows. The system is usually very responsive at that time. One tip I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you're someone who tends to forget or procrastinate, set a phone alarm for your preferred certification time. I used to always tell myself "I'll do it later on Sunday" and then end up rushing to certify late Saturday night the following week. Having that alarm has been a game-changer for staying consistent with timing.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread! As someone who just started collecting unemployment benefits last week, I was completely clueless about certification timing and strategy. Reading through all your real-world experiences and success rates has been incredibly educational. I love how this community actually shares practical, tested advice instead of just theoretical information. Based on everyone's input, I'm going to start with the Sunday 7-8 AM approach for reliability, and I've already set up a recurring phone alarm like Misterclamation suggested. It's reassuring to know there are backup strategies if I ever run into issues. Thanks for making what seemed like a confusing process much more manageable!