my sister had this same problem but her name changed cuz of divorce not marriage. she had to go to the office in person and bring all her papers

UPDATE: I finally got verified!!! I took everyone's advice here and did the video call with the ID.me Trusted Referee. The woman was super helpful and understood my situation right away. I showed her my driver's license and social security card, explained the name change situation, and she was able to manually approve my verification! My NY unemployment claim is now processing and they said I should receive all my back benefits within 3-5 business days. THANK YOU all for your help - I would have given up without your suggestions.

Thanks everyone for the responses! I feel much better knowing I'm not alone with this weird daily certification thing. I'll keep certifying daily and documenting everything until they fix it. I'll try to get through on the phone too, and might check out that Claimyr service if I keep hitting dead ends. Really appreciate all the advice!

Let us know when it gets fixed for you! I'm on day 6 of this nonsense and getting REALLY tired of doing this EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!

Have you tried checking your refund status online? The NY Tax Department has a "Where's My Refund" tool on their website where you can check the status without calling. Also, double-check that your banking information is correct in your tax filing - sometimes refunds get returned if there's an issue with the direct deposit information.

Just wanted to update - I called the Tax Department this morning using the number someone shared above. After 45 minutes on hold, I gave up and decided to try Claimyr. I got connected to a Tax Department representative within 30 minutes! Turns out there was an issue with my address verification (I moved in January) that was holding everything up. The representative removed the hold and said I should receive my refund within 2-3 weeks. So relieved to finally have an answer!

Another important point: If you're waiting for a refund related to unemployment taxes but can't access your transcript online, you can request it by mail using Form 4506-T. It's free and will show if the IRS has processed any adjustments to your account. Takes about 10 business days to arrive.

Wait I'm still confused about something... are you talking about a NEW unemployment tax refund for 2025? Or are you still trying to get the old one from 2020-2021? Because those are totally different things and I haven't heard about any new unemployment tax exemption for 2025???

Update on the backpay situation: As of March 2025, the NYSDOL has implemented new procedures for backpay claims over $20,000. These now require a secondary review by the Backpay Verification Team. The current processing times are: - $5,000-$19,999: Approximately 4-6 weeks - $20,000-$49,999: Approximately 12-16 weeks - $50,000+: Approximately 16-24 weeks These timeframes are from the date of backpay approval, not from the date of initial claim filing. Since you're at 6 months, you should request to speak with a supervisor specifically about the Backpay Verification status. There's a specific status code they can check that regular agents don't typically access.

I finally got my backpay after 7 months of waiting! What worked for me was documenting EVERY single call (date, time, agent ID, what they promised) and then sending that documentation to both my state senator AND assemblyperson offices. Include all the details about your hardship situation too. The legislative offices have special contacts at NYSDOL that can actually get things moving.