Approved for ESD unemployment but still showing Pending status - how long until payment?

You're almost there! It typically takes 2-3 business days after approval for the payment to process, then another 1-2 days for it to hit your bank account if you chose direct deposit. So probably 3-5 days total from approval letter to money in hand. Pending just means its working through the system. The hardest part is over now that you're approved!

mine took almsot a full week after aproval letter. idk why they say its approved but then make u wait more days??? the whole system is so frustrating!!!

Contacting the governor's office was smart! I've been stuck in adjudication for 5 weeks now with no movement at all. How exactly did you contact them? Did you call or email? I've tried calling ESD directly about 50 times and either get disconnected or told the wait time is over 4 hours.

Have you checked to see if you need to do anything else? Sometimes there's still weekly claims that need to be filed even after approval, or job search activities that need to be logged. Just making sure you've completed everything on your end.

If you haven't received payment within 5 business days of your approval letter, I'd recommend trying to speak directly with an ESD agent. However, getting through to them is nearly impossible these days. I was in a similar situation last month and used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual ESD agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. The agent was able to manually check my payment status and push it through when it was stuck in their system.

One technical detail to be aware of: The first payment often takes longer than subsequent payments. After you receive your first payment, the weekly payments should come consistently as long as you file your weekly claims on time. Also, make sure you've selected your payment preference (direct deposit or debit card) in your ESD account settings. Sometimes that can cause delays if it's not set up correctly.

guys i got my aproval back in feb and then got a letter 2 weeks later saying they made a mistake and i wasnt aproved afterall... so dont count ur chickens

My situation was identical last month! Approved after calling everyone I could think of, but stuck on pending for days. Mine switched from pending to paid on day 4, then I got the money on day 6. Hang in there!

So I actually used to process claims for ESD back in 2022-2023. The approval letter means your claim is accepted, but payments still need to go through the payment processing system which runs on a different schedule. As long as you've been filing your weekly claims correctly, you should see payment within a week of approval. The system does a payment run every night Monday-Friday, but sometimes claims need manual review before payment if anything looks unusual (like a gap in weekly claims or a large benefit amount).

I'm in almost the exact same boat! Got my approval letter yesterday after a 4-week wait (also had to escalate through multiple channels), but my online account still shows pending. Reading through these comments is really reassuring - sounds like 3-5 business days is normal. The waiting game is brutal when you're already financially stressed. At least we made it through the hardest part of getting approved! I'll be checking my account obsessively for the next few days.

I work at a local credit union and see this situation frequently with our members. While you're waiting for your ESD payment, don't forget to reach out to your landlord about the situation if rent is due soon - many are understanding about unemployment delays, especially if you can show them your approval letter. Also, some utility companies and other service providers have hardship programs that can give you a few extra days or weeks if needed. The approval letter is solid proof that money is coming, which helps when asking for temporary flexibility on bills.