Any possible impact filing unemployment claim?

[Stevie 0]

My marriage of over 2 years has been great and all. Things have been going very well. We are going to be filing for a change of status in Jan. '07.

However, yesterday my wife found out for some (mostly unknown reasons) her full time employeer for 10 months was not happy with her and she was "sacked".

I told her she should file an unemployment claim (not even sure if she is entitled), but she is worried it might impact our change of status filing.

I disagree, but she asked me to ask here, so there it is. From what I know we should not have any problems because everything is legitimate, but I just had to ask.

Thanks ahead of time.

[meauxna 15]

An application for, or acceptance of, UI payments won't affect the I-751. There's no financial statement needed for this one.

[hcj 0]

Unemployment is not a means-tested benefit, so you should be fine!

[sparkofcreation 0]

Does she qualify? IIRC, she has to have worked four quarters not counting the current one or the one just before it (or at least, that's what New Jersey calculates your unemployment salary based on--80% of your salary for four quarters not counting the current one or the one before--for example, I got laid off in January 2002, and they calculated it based on my salary from October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2001). Was she working by April 1, 2005? If my math is right, the applicable quarters would be 2nd quarter 2005 through 1st quarter 2006 (April 1, 2005 through March 31, 2006).

Edited August 12, 2006 by sparkofcreation

[diadromous mermaid 36]

Does she qualify? IIRC, she has to have worked four quarters not counting the current one or the one just before it (or at least, that's what New Jersey calculates your unemployment salary based on--80% of your salary for four quarters not counting the current one or the one before--for example, I got laid off in January 2002, and they calculated it based on my salary from October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2001). Was she working by April 1, 2005? If my math is right, the applicable quarters would be 2nd quarter 2005 through 1st quarter 2006 (April 1, 2005 through March 31, 2006).

My understanding is that one has to be employed for a certain period of time before one has accrued any insurance coverage with an employer. That said, UI does request wage information for 5 calendar quarters prior to the application for benefits.

[magnus0201 0]

No, it won't affect the I-751 because Employers pay into the Unemployment Fund, not the govt.

However, as it has been hinted at, I'm not sure she is going to be able to even qualify for UI. It varies in every state but in mine, they look at the last 4 quarters of work to determine how much a person receives a week in UI. But I'm not certain of how long a person has to actually be on a job, or how long of a work history they must have before they can even qualify for anything.

Let her go ahead and file though. My guess, they will give her something, but don't expect the weekly max.

[diadromous mermaid 36]

No, it won't affect the I-751 because Employers pay into the Unemployment Fund, not the govt.

However, as it has been hinted at, I'm not sure she is going to be able to even qualify for UI. It varies in every state but in mine, they look at the last 4 quarters of work to determine how much a person receives a week in UI. But I'm not certain of how long a person has to actually be on a job, or how long of a work history they must have before they can even qualify for anything.

Let her go ahead and file though. My guess, they will give her something, but don't expect the weekly max.

If she's working in Arizona, as the OP's profile implies, here's a quote from the Arizona Unemployment Benefits website, http://www.azdes.gov/esa/uibenefits/clmt.asp#elig

Wage Statement. When you file your claim you will be issued a Wage Statement which will list the wages reported by your employer(s) during the Base Period of your claim. The Wage Statement will also show the weekly and total amount of benefits you may receive if you meet all eligibility requirements during your benefit year. Your benefit year is the one-year period beginning with the Sunday of the week in which you filed your first claim for benefits.

Base Period. Your monetary eligibility for unemployment insurance is based on insured wages paid to you during a one-year period called the base period. In most instances the base period will be the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the date you first applied for unemployment insurance.

The calendar year is divided into four calendar quarters:

1st quarter is January 1--March 31

2nd quarter is April 1--June 30

3rd quarter is July 1--September 30

4th quarter is October 1--December 31

Your benefit rights are based on your earnings in the four shaded calendar quarters. Earnings prior to this 12-month period cannot be considered in computing the amount of unemployment insurance to which you may be entitled. Also, your earnings in the 5th quarter, which is the lag quarter, and the quarter you file your claim cannot be considered in computing your claim for unemployment insurance.

To qualify for benefits, you must have been paid wages in insured employment of:

At least $1500.00 in one of the four quarters of the base period and your total base period wages must be at least 1-1/2 times your high quarter, or

At least $7000.00 in total wages in at least two quarters of the base period, with wages in one quarter equal to $5987.50 or more.