PA UC Commonwealth Court appeal filed 2 months ago - no acknowledgment yet. Normal?

Commonwealth Court appeals are definitely a much slower process than the earlier appeals. The unfortunate reality is that 2 months without acknowledgment is not unusual at all. These appeals are handled differently than the UC appeals system - they're going through an actual court rather than just the unemployment office. In my experience helping people with these appeals, I typically tell them to expect 3-4 months just to receive the initial acknowledgment letter. The entire process can take anywhere from 10-16 months for a decision. The Commonwealth Court handles all kinds of government appeals, not just unemployment, so they're always backlogged. One thing you can do is call the Commonwealth Court Prothonotary's office (they're the court clerks) at 717-255-1650 to confirm they received your paperwork. Have your UC claim number and the date you filed ready when you call. They can at least verify if it's in their system.

i went thru this same thing last year. waited like 4 months just to get a letter saying they got my appeal!!! then another 8 months to get to court. its ridiculous how they expect ppl to survive with no income for that long. good luck man

OK so i had a similar situation but with a twist that might help u. After 2 months of hearing nothing I started calling EVERY WEEK to that prothonotary office number the other person mentioned. The first few times they just said 'its in process' but then on like the 4th call I got someone who was super helpful and noticed my paperwork had been 'flagged for review' because I had made an error on one of the forms (I used an old version of the petition for review). They let me submit a corrected version and things started moving. Might be worth calling just to make sure everything is in order with ur paperwork. also did u send a copy to the UC Dept of Labor & Industry legal department? That's required and some people forget that step! btw if ur really desperate to get through to a UC rep to check on anything about your original claim while waiting, I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual person at UC in about 30 minutes instead of spending days trying. they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2 that shows how it works. was worth it for me to get actual answers.

Having worked with the PA UC system for many years, I can tell you that Commonwealth Court appeals operate under completely different timelines than regular UC appeals. Here are a few things to keep in mind: 1. The court does not have the same notification requirements as UC - they're not required to send an acknowledgment letter, though they often do eventually 2. Your appeal status won't show up on the UC portal because Commonwealth Court is outside the UC system 3. The timeline depends greatly on the court's current caseload, but 6-12 months for a decision is typical 4. You can request a status update by calling the Prothonotary or sending a written request 5. Make sure you've preserved all your evidence and documentation from the previous appeal levels One important thing to note: Commonwealth Court appeals are limited to reviewing whether the Board of Review made an error of law or whether findings of fact were supported by substantial evidence. They won't re-evaluate your entire case from scratch.

To answer your question - no, the Commonwealth Court generally won't consider new evidence that wasn't presented at the earlier appeal levels. They're reviewing the legal correctness of the previous decision based on the evidence that was already presented. If your boyfriend has new evidence that wasn't available during the earlier appeals, he should consult with an attorney who specializes in unemployment cases. In some situations, it might be possible to request a rehearing at the Board of Review level based on newly discovered evidence, but there are strict requirements and time limits for this.

Just went through this whole process myself and got my Commonwealth Court decision last month (took 14 months total, ugh). One thing nobody mentioned is that you should be checking your mail SUPER carefully during this time. The Court sent me paperwork three times that had deadlines to respond, and they all came in very official-looking envelopes that could easily be mistaken for junk mail. Almost missed one! Also, if you haven't already, you might want to consider finding an attorney who does unemployment cases. Many will take these cases on contingency (they only get paid if you win). I tried doing it myself at first but got overwhelmed by all the legal terminology and requirements.

Yeah I actually did win! The Commonwealth Court reversed the Board of Review decision and I got all my back benefits (about $11k after taxes). But it was incredibly stressful waiting all that time with no income. I had to move in with my parents and take whatever odd jobs I could find while waiting.

I ended up getting an attorney after trying to do it myself for the first few months. Found one who would take it on contingency (they took 25% of my backpay when I won). Honestly, I think it made a huge difference because they knew exactly what legal arguments to make. The court doesn't care about what seems "fair" - they only care about whether the law was applied correctly. My attorney found a previous case almost exactly like mine where the court had ruled in the claimant's favor, and that precedent really helped.

I don't want to be negative but you should start accepting that you might NEVER see that money!! My husband fought his denial all the way to Commonwealth Court and after waiting 11 MONTHS they sided with the unemployment office!!! He had CLEAR PROOF his employer lied but it didn't matter. The whole system protects employers and the state budget. They make the process so long hoping you'll just give up. PLUS even if you do win, good luck actually getting paid in a reasonable timeframe. My friend won her case and it took another 3 months for the payments to actually start coming through. The whole system is designed to frustrate people into giving up.

Thank you all for the information and sharing your experiences. I'm definitely going to call the Prothonotary's office tomorrow to check on my paperwork status, and I'll start looking into attorneys who handle UC cases on contingency. It's really discouraging to hear how long this whole process takes, but at least I know it's not unusual to be waiting this long for an acknowledgment. I'll update this thread if I find out anything useful from the Prothonotary's office that might help others in similar situations. Fingers crossed that I eventually get a positive outcome like some of you did!

I'm going through something very similar right now! Filed my Commonwealth Court appeal about 6 weeks ago and also haven't heard anything back yet. Reading through everyone's experiences here is both reassuring and terrifying at the same time - I had no idea the timeline could be 10-16 months for a final decision! I actually called that Prothonotary number someone mentioned last week (717-255-1650) and they were able to confirm my appeal was received and assigned a docket number, which gave me some peace of mind. The clerk told me they're currently processing appeals from about 4-5 months ago, so the backlog is real. One thing I wanted to add - make sure you keep documentation of your job search efforts during this whole process, even though you're appealing. I was told by a legal aid attorney that if you do eventually win, they might still require proof that you were available and actively seeking work during the appeal period to get your full back benefits. Better safe than sorry! Also seconding what others said about watching your mail carefully. I've been checking every single piece of mail religiously because I'm paranoid about missing something important with a deadline.