Someone posted about this on reddit too - they said ESD is SUPER picky about the photos. Like all 4 corners of each document have to be visible and they need to see your face clearly holding them. Its stupid but after you get it right they process things pretty fast.

UPDATE: I finally got this sorted! For anyone dealing with the same issue - I ended up using my bank statement (which worked fine) and had my daughter take the photo while I held everything up. They approved my verification in 4 days. What a relief! Thanks to everyone who offered advice.

ESD specialist here. One week is actually pretty early in the process to be concerned. The standard processing time for initial claims is currently 10-14 business days without any issues. If there are any discrepancies that require adjudication, it will take significantly longer. Continue filing your weekly claims on time while you wait. This is EXTREMELY important - if your initial claim is approved but you haven't been filing weekly claims, you won't receive benefits for those weeks. As for reaching an agent by phone, the official advice is to call during non-peak hours (typically Wednesday-Thursday afternoons), but in reality, the call volume is consistently high. The online message center in eServices is often more effective than calling, though responses can take 3-5 business days. One thing to check: make sure you've completed the ID verification process through ID.me if prompted. This is often a common holdup for new claims.

when i had a claim last year i couldn't reach anyone for weeks and then found out they needed some employer info that they never told me about!! my claim was just sitting there the whole time! so frustrating! i ended up having to go to the WorkSource center in person and got help that way after waiting for like 3 hours

Since you're in a financial bind while waiting, have you looked into: 1. Requesting hardship assistance through DSHS? 2. Applying for temporary assistance programs like TANF if you have children? 3. Food benefits through Basic Food/SNAP? 4. Local community emergency assistance funds? Many people don't realize there are bridge programs designed to help during gaps like this. While they won't replace full unemployment benefits, they can help keep you afloat during the waiting period.

THE MOST INFURIATING THING about this whole process is how they expect people to survive for MONTHS with no income while they take their sweet time making decisions!!! The system is DELIBERATELY slow to force people to give up and take any terrible job they can find. It's not right!!! And for everyone saying "just call ESD" - HAHAHA! What a joke. It's easier to get tickets to Taylor Swift than to talk to an actual human at ESD. I spent entire DAYS hitting redial.

One thing to note is that in Washington, if your hours at your main job ever drop below 40 in any week (even temporarily due to holidays, business slowdowns, etc.), you should file for that specific week. The system evaluates eligibility weekly, not based on your regular schedule. So keep that in mind going forward - there may be occasional weeks where you could qualify.

Have you considered looking for a replacement second job? The job market is actually pretty good in some sectors right now. Maybe WorkSource could help with job placement to replace the lost income?

Have you tried contacting your state representative? I was stuck in a similar situation for weeks and nothing worked until I reached out to my district rep. Their office has special contacts at ESD and got my issue resolved in 3 days after I'd been waiting for months. Just Google "[your county] state representative" and reach out to their constituent services.

UPDATE: I just got paid!!! All 9 weeks came through at once! I used the Claimyr service that someone mentioned above to finally reach an agent this morning. Turns out there was a "system flag" on my account because I had two employers in my base year and one of them hadn't responded. The ESD agent manually overrode it since the appeal period had passed. She said the money should be in my account in 48 hours, but it actually showed up just 3 hours later! SUCH a relief. Thanks everyone for your help!