First-time ESD application submitted 3/30 - how long until approval decision?

The wait time for initial claims has been all over the place lately. Mine took exactly 3 weeks to get approved last month. But I've heard some people getting approved in as little as 10-14 days if there are no issues with your claim. Did you get the monetary determination letter yet in your eServices inbox? That usually comes first, then the actual approval/denial decision.

It typically takes 2-4 weeks for initial approval, but you should be filing your weekly claims EVERY WEEK while waiting! A lot of first-timers miss this and it causes problems. Are you doing your weekly claims?

Don't panic, but you definitely need to be filing weekly claims while your initial application is processing. The monetary determination letter is a good sign - it means they've calculated what you'd receive if approved, but it's not the final decision. If your application has no issues requiring adjudication, you could be approved any day now. For the missed weekly claims, you can usually backdate them, but do it ASAP. Go to your eServices account, look for an option to file a missed weekly claim. You'll need to provide a good reason for missing it (like being a first-timer who didn't understand the process).

My brothers claim took amost 2 months last year cuz they had to do "adjudication" on something. They just keep saying its in progress when he called. so frustrating!!!!

If you received your monetary determination letter, that's a good sign! Keep an eye on your claim status in eServices - it should change from "pending" to either "processing payments" or might request additional information if there's an issue. One thing that can cause delays is if your employer contests your claim or if there's any question about your separation reason. Since you mentioned it was a construction layoff due to project completion, that's usually straightforward and shouldn't cause issues. BTW - if you need to actually talk to an ESD agent about your claim status (which might be good since you missed filing those weekly claims), I'd recommend trying Claimyr. It helped me get through to ESD when I was stuck on hold forever. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 - basically helps you skip the phone queue nightmare.

Everyones claim is different!!! Mine took 6 days back in February while my wifes took 5 weeks and they never explained why. Just how ESD works I guess there all backed up from covid still. They should really fix there systems its 2025 already lol.

Just wanted to check back - were you able to get those missed weekly claims submitted? Make sure you're completing all your job search activities too (3 per week). The biggest mistake first-time claimants make is not documenting their job search properly, which can lead to benefits being denied later.

Just sharing my timeline to help: Applied Jan 12, monetary determination Jan 18, approval Jan 29, first payment Feb 3. So about 2.5 weeks total from application to approval for me. Hope that helps!