How do you apply for unemployment in New Jersey?

New Jersey pays nothing on a claim until it confirms who you are through ID.me, so finish that step as soon as you have filed. Applying as a federal employee, a former service member, or from outside the state each changes what you have to send in.

How to file, online or by phone

Filing online starts with an account in the Division of Unemployment Insurance's own system.

1. Create the account. Your email address has to be 35 characters or fewer, and it is where claim notices go, so use one you check.
2. Set a password of at least 8 characters holding a number, an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, and a special character.
3. File the claim. It is dated the Sunday of the week you file, and filing by Saturday at midnight gives you credit back to that Sunday.
4. Choose direct deposit inside the application, or the prepaid debit card becomes your payment method by default.
5. Verify your identity through ID.me.

If your last day of work was a Friday or Saturday and you worked the full week, wait until after Sunday to file. Filing sooner can put a week you actually worked inside the claim.

That same account is the one you log back into later, and you reach it from the Division of Unemployment Insurance's own site.

By phone, a Reemployment Call Center takes new claims on weekdays, excluding holidays, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The centers are split by region.

What to have ready before you start

• The email address the claim will use, at 35 characters or fewer, and a password that meets the rules above.
• Your Social Security number and the common identity documents ID.me accepts.
• Your checking or savings account details, if you want direct deposit rather than the prepaid debit card.
• Copies of your SF-8 and SF-50 forms, if you were a federal civilian employee.
• Copies of your DD-214, if you are a former military member.

Verifying your identity through ID.me

ID.me is the security vendor New Jersey uses, and every claimant goes through it. Verifying takes a few minutes with your Social Security number, a phone or computer, and the email address on your claim. Processing it afterwards can take the Division up to 5 business days.

How your money reaches you

Your first payment request falls on a Wednesday, 17 days after your date of claim. New Jersey then pays either by direct deposit or on a prepaid Money Network/My Banking Direct debit card, and the card is what you get if you do not sign up for direct deposit.

Direct deposit normally reaches your bank within 2 full business days of certifying for a week. The debit card is mailed within 10 days of the Division reviewing your application, in a plain unmarked envelope with an Omaha, NE return address.

A claim goes inactive once you have gone 28 days without certifying. Reactivating it means entering your direct deposit details again, or the Division moves you onto the prepaid debit card.

The questionnaire and calls that decide your claim

When the Division needs more before it can decide, it either sends a link to a secure online e-Adjudication questionnaire or books a phone appointment with a claims examiner. A claims examiner may also call without notice on a weekday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Where an appointment is scheduled, stay available for 2 hours after the time on the notice, because the call can run late.

Keep certifying every week while any of this is open, including while you appeal a denial, so those weeks get credit if the decision goes your way. Weekly claims has the questions you will be asked.

Special cases the Division calls out

Some situations change what New Jersey needs from you, or whether it can pay at all. Being self-employed, a school employee, or a business owner is covered under who qualifies.

If you live in one state and worked in another

If you live in New Jersey but worked only in other states, New Jersey tells you to apply in a state where you physically worked. Your eligibility here rests on the wage information your employers reported over the last 18 months, not on the state line you cross to get to work.

Out-of-state claims go to 888-795-6672, and it has to be called from a phone with an out-of-state area code.

If you already have an unemployment claim in another state, your deadline for claiming New Jersey Dependency Benefits is 8 weeks rather than 6.

If you worked for the federal government

A federal civilian employee has to submit copies of their SF-8 and SF-50 forms.

If a temporary federal shutdown put you out of work and you are later recalled with full retroactive pay, you have to repay 100% of the unemployment benefits you received, including the tax that was withheld, and no overpayment waiver is available for that. Tax on benefits covers withholding.

If you are a former military member

A former military member has to submit copies of their DD-214.

Where military work was your only employment in the last 18 months, you have to be physically in New Jersey to apply here. Where you had both New Jersey non-military work and military work in that time and you are out of state, you can apply online on the non-military wages alone, and an agent has to take the claim if you want both counted.