PA UC claim in review for 10 weeks with no reviewer assigned - normal wait time?

Mine took 8 weeks back in november and i thought THAT was bad. every time i called i got a different story. first they said it was assigned, then it wasnt, then they said i needed to submit something else, then they said i didnt. the whole system is a joke!!! someone needs to FIX the PA unemployment system once and for all!!

Same experience! The left hand doesnt know what the right hand is doing in that office. I waited 7 weeks and thought I was going to lose my mind.

Unfortunately, waiting 8-12 weeks for a claim review has become more common in PA over the past year. The UC office is severely understaffed, and many claims require manual review due to employment verification requirements. A few things you can do:\n\n1. Continue filing your weekly certifications even while waiting\n2. Check your dashboard for any tasks/messages requiring action\n3. Try contacting your state representative's office - they can sometimes help expedite\n4. Make sure your work search activities are properly documented each week\n\nIn my experience helping claimants, claims with any wage discrepancies or employer disputes take the longest to resolve. Do you know if your employer contested anything?

Thank you for this helpful info. I've definitely been keeping up with my weekly certifications and work search activities. As far as I know, my employer didn't contest anything - it was a straightforward layoff and they told me they'd approve my UC claim. I'll try contacting my state rep, that's a good idea. I just don't understand why it takes 3 months just to LOOK at someone's claim!

I had a similar issue back in February and found a service called Claimyr that helped me actually get through to a live agent after weeks of busy signals. You can check them out at claimyr.com - they have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2\n\nWhen I finally got through, the agent was able to see that my claim was stuck because of a verification issue that wasn't showing on my dashboard. They fixed it while I was on the phone and my payments started the next week. Sometimes you just need to talk to the right person.

does this actually work? im skeptical of anything that claims to help with PA unemployment cuz ive been disappointed so many times before

It worked for me. I was desperate after trying for weeks to get through. The service doesn't fix your claim directly - it just gets you past the phone system so you can actually talk to an agent, which is half the battle with PA UC.

Ugh that wait time is ridiculous but not surprising! I'm in week 6 of waiting 😖 Did they tell you if there was any specific issue causing the delay or just general backlog?

They just said it was backlog. The frustrating thing is there's no transparency - you can't see where you are in line or if there's any progress. Just 'in review' for months with no end in sight.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Applied in December, it's now March, and still nothing. Called 40+ times last week and finally got through just to be told they're

I had to wait 7 weeks too! So stressful.

That's a good tip about specifically asking if there are any issues. I'll try sending a detailed message through the dashboard. Did you find that sending messages through the portal actually got responses? I've sent two already with no reply.

One more thing - there's a specific status that says \

Thank you! I've completed ID.me verification and double-checked all my employment info. I'll definitely contact my state rep tomorrow - I didn't realize they could help with UC issues. Anything is worth trying at this point.

have u tried calling right when they open? thats what worked 4 me after waiting 9 weeks. got thru at 8:02am on a tuesday and the lady actually expedited my claim cuz she saw how long it had been sitting there. got paid 3 days later for all back weeks. keep trying!!

I haven't tried right at opening - that's a good idea. I'll set an alarm for tomorrow morning and try calling right at 8am. Thanks for the tip! Glad to hear you finally got your back pay.

UPDATE: I just tried that service the other person mentioned (Claimyr) and it ACTUALLY WORKED. I've been trying to get through for 2 weeks and this got me to an agent in 45 minutes. The agent just told me my claim was stuck because of a former employer from 2023 that needed to verify wages. No one ever told me this!!! She's expediting my claim now. Just wanted to update in case anyone else is still stuck.

Wow, thank you for updating! I'm going to try this tomorrow. I can't believe how many people have claims stuck because of issues that aren't even showing up on our dashboards. The lack of communication is the most frustrating part.

Has anyone noticed that the claims filed in 2025 seem to be taking way longer than usual? I have friends who filed in 2024 and their claims were processed in 3-4 weeks. But everyone I know who filed in January or February 2025 is still waiting. I wonder if they changed something in the system or added new verification steps that's causing these insane delays.

You're correct - there was a system update in December 2024 that added additional verification requirements and also coincided with staffing reductions. The combination has significantly increased processing times. The department hasn't officially acknowledged this, but we're seeing average wait times increase from 4-6 weeks to 8-12 weeks for initial claim processing.

hang in there!! my claim took 11 weeks and i was about to give up when it suddenly got approved all at once. the waiting is the worst part 😩

Thank you! It helps to know I'm not alone even though this situation shouldn't be happening to anyone. 11 weeks is insane, but at least you eventually got approved!

I'm in a similar boat - filed in mid-January and still waiting in week 9 with no reviewer assigned. The financial stress is overwhelming! I've been keeping detailed records of all my calls and attempts to get through. One thing that's helped me stay organized is creating a spreadsheet tracking my weekly certifications, work search activities, and every phone call attempt with dates/times. It's also useful if you eventually need to escalate to your state rep or senator's office. The system is definitely broken, but from reading everyone's experiences here, it seems like persistence eventually pays off. Keep filing those weekly certs and don't give up!

I'm so sorry you're going through this - the stress of waiting 10 weeks with no income is unimaginable! I filed my PA UC claim in late January and I'm now in week 8 with the same "in review" status. Like you, when I finally got through to someone last week, they told me it hadn't been assigned to a reviewer yet either. It's honestly criminal how they're treating people who desperately need these benefits. I've been surviving on credit cards and help from family, but that can't last forever. Reading through these comments gives me some hope though - sounds like many people do eventually get approved, it just takes way longer than it should. I'm definitely going to try that Claimyr service and calling right at 8am. We shouldn't have to jump through all these hoops just to talk to someone about our own claims! Hang in there - you're not alone in this nightmare.