How long does PA UC Transitional Claim review take? Regular deposits stopped after benefit year ended
My husband was receiving regular unemployment payments until his benefit year expired last month. He had to file a new transitional claim for this new benefit year, and now everything is on hold while they review it. His weekly deposits have completely stopped during this process. We're getting worried because our bills are piling up - does anyone know how long these transitional claim reviews typically take with PA UC? The website doesn't give any timeframe, and we've called at least 15 times but can't get through to anyone. Is this normal or should we be concerned something went wrong with his application?
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Yara Elias
Transitional claims in PA usually take 2-4 weeks to process, sometimes longer depending on their workload. It's completely normal for payments to stop until the new benefit year claim is approved. Make sure he keeps filing his weekly certifications even though he's not getting paid - they'll release all those weeks as back-pay once approved!
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Connor Byrne
•Thank you! It's been 3 weeks already so hopefully we're getting close. He's definitely still doing the weekly certifications. Any idea if there's a way to check the status besides calling? The dashboard just shows 'pending' with no other details.
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QuantumQuasar
same thing happened to me in march!!! took forever but money finally came thru. hang in there
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Connor Byrne
•Thanks for the encouragement! How long did yours take if you don't mind me asking?
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QuantumQuasar
•like 5 weeks total i think? but got all backpay at once
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Keisha Jackson
The PA UC system is DELIBERATELY SLOW with transitional claims!! They hope people give up or find work so they don't have to pay! I went through this last year and it took them SIX WEEKS to approve my transitional claim even though nothing had changed with my employment situation. Keep calling EVERY DAY and document everything!!!
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Connor Byrne
•Six weeks?? That's terrifying. We can barely make it another week without his unemployment coming in. I'll definitely have him keep trying to call.
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Paolo Moretti
You should really try Claimyr if you're having trouble getting through on the phone. I was in the same boat last year with my transitional claim and couldn't get anyone to answer for weeks. Used Claimyr and got connected to a rep in less than an hour who actually helped resolve my claim issue. Their video shows how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2 - website is claimyr.com. Saved me weeks of waiting and frustration.
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Amina Diop
•does that actually work? i thought it was a scam
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Paolo Moretti
•It definitely works. They basically keep calling for you using their system until they get through, then connect you when a UC rep answers. Saved me from having to redial hundreds of times myself.
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Oliver Weber
Transitional claims are taking longer now because they're doing more thorough reviews after all the fraud during COVID. My claim took 3.5 weeks but they're also checking if he qualifies for a new base year calculation or if he'll continue on his existing claim amounts. Make sure he answers any ID verification requests immediately if they send one - those can delay things by weeks if missed.
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Natasha Romanova
•This! I wish someone had told me this earlier. My transitional claim was held up for an extra three weeks because I didn't realize they sent an ID verification request to my dashboard messages. I was just watching my email and missed it completely. Check his dashboard messages every day!
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Connor Byrne
•Thank you both! I just had him check his dashboard messages and there's nothing about ID verification, but we'll keep checking daily. Really appreciate the advice.
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Amina Diop
my brother wait 7 week for his transitonal claim last year. PA is the worst!!
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Yara Elias
One more thing - if it's been more than 4 weeks, have your husband contact his state representative's office. They have special liaisons that can reach out to UC on his behalf and often get things moving much faster. This helped me when my claim was stuck for over a month.
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Connor Byrne
•That's a great suggestion! I never would have thought of contacting our state rep. We're coming up on 4 weeks now, so if nothing changes by next week, we'll definitely try this approach. Thank you!
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QuantumQuasar
btw make sure he answers any qwestions about work search activities when filing weekly! i almost messed up my transitional claim by forgetting to list my job applications
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Keisha Jackson
I went through EXACTLY the same thing in 2023 and ended up having to take out a high-interest loan just to pay rent while waiting for PA to get their act together. The system is BROKEN and they don't care how many families suffer because of their incompetence!!!
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Connor Byrne
•I'm sorry you had to go through that. We're trying to avoid loans but might not have a choice soon. This whole system seems designed to make people give up.
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Oliver Weber
Update us when your husband's claim gets approved! It's always helpful to know current processing times since they vary throughout the year. For what it's worth, I'm seeing reports on other forums that transitional claims filed in the last 30 days are averaging about 4 weeks for approval right now.
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Connor Byrne
•I'll definitely post an update when it goes through! 4 weeks seems to be the consensus timeframe, so hopefully just another week or so for us.
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Dmitry Smirnov
I'm going through the exact same situation right now! My benefit year ended in February and I filed my transitional claim 3 weeks ago. Still waiting and no payments coming in. It's so stressful not knowing when it will be approved. The lack of communication from PA UC is the worst part - they really need to give people better updates on where their claims stand in the process. Fingers crossed both our claims get approved soon!
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Lucas Turner
•I'm in a similar boat - just hit the 3 week mark myself! It's really reassuring to know I'm not the only one dealing with this right now. The uncertainty is honestly the hardest part. Have you been keeping up with your weekly certifications? I keep wondering if I'm doing something wrong since the dashboard gives zero helpful information. Hopefully we both hear something positive soon!
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