How do you apply for unemployment insurance in Massachusetts?

Anyone unsure whether they qualify is told to apply anyway, because DUA makes that decision, not the applicant. The account comes before the application: claims run through Unemployment Services for Workers, and an old UI Online account cannot log in to it.

The MyMassGov account you need first

A MyMassGov account is what gets you into Unemployment Services for Workers to apply, manage the claim, and file your weekly claims afterwards. Make one before you sit down to the application.

1. Go to the Unemployment Services for Workers site and select "Log in or Create your account with MyMassGov".
2. If you had a UI Online account, sign up for MyMassGov using the same email address.
3. Follow the prompts to finish creating the account.

If the login itself is the problem, MyMassGov publishes fixes for the common ones, including changing a password or a phone number, and DUA can straighten an account out in person at the Boston Re-Employment Center. The steps are on Log in to Unemployment Services for Workers.

What to have ready

• Your Social Security number, birth date, home address, email address, and phone number
• Social Security numbers and birth dates of any dependents
• Your driver's license or State ID number and its expiration date, if you have one
• A bank account and routing number, to set up direct deposit
• Your previous employment: names, addresses, phone numbers, start and end dates, and the reason each job ended

How to file online

1. Log in or sign up for an Unemployment Services for Workers account using MyMassGov.
2. From your dashboard, select "File an unemployment insurance claim".
3. Follow the prompts through the application.
4. Stop at the Success message, which tells you what to expect next.

If your old claim closed and you need it running again, choose "Reopen your unemployment insurance claim" from the same dashboard instead.

Filing without a computer

The TeleClaim Center takes applications over the phone on (877) 626-6800, Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Since August 2025 the Call Center has not answered calls on Fridays, so staff can process applications instead. A Friday call reaches nobody. Weekly claims have a phone line of their own, open every day of the week, and its number and hours sit on the weekly claims page.

In person, DUA takes appointments at the Boston Re-Employment Center, 2 Avenue de Lafayette in Boston, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and offers limited appointments at MassHire Career Centers in Brockton, Fall River, Greenfield, Holyoke, Pittsfield, Salem, Southbridge, Springfield, Taunton, and Worcester. An appointment can be used to apply or reopen a claim, drop off or print documents, complete a fact-finding questionnaire, get help with an overpayment, or reset a password or PIN.

Special cases the Department calls out

• If you were in the military, bring your discharge paperwork, the DD-214 Member-4 Form.
• If you worked for the federal government, bring your Notice of Personnel Action (SF-50) and your Notice about Unemployment Insurance (SF-8).
• If you are not a U.S. citizen, bring the paperwork that proves you are authorized to work in the United States.
• If you were laid off with a date to return, you will be asked for that recall date.
• If you live here but worked for an employer located in another state, file your claim in the state where that employer is, not with DUA.

What happens in the first weeks

A notice confirming the application arrives in the mail, and the same updates appear in your account. Most reviews take about 3 to 4 weeks, and part of that wait is your former employer, who gets 10 business days to verify your employment and wage history. Applications commonly sit pending while DUA waits on a former employer, verifies identity or work history, reviews documents you sent, or settles an eligibility issue or an appeal.

Several notices arrive during those weeks, and each one wants something different from you.

• The Notice of Monetary Determination is an estimate, not an approval. It needs no reply unless you disagree with the wage or employer information in it, in which case the notice itself explains how to submit an Affidavit to Correct Wages.
• An identity verification notice, if one is needed, comes by mail or email within 72 hours of the application. It names the method to use: an online quiz, a visit to a participating post office, or copies mailed to Department of Unemployment Assistance, Attn: Program Integrity, 100 Cambridge St, 4th Floor, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114. Send copies only. DUA cannot return original documents.
• Requests for more information land in the Action Center inside your account, where you can upload what is asked for from a phone or a computer. To answer a fact-finding request by phone instead, call the DUA Call Center on (617) 626-6800, Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Weekly claims and work search covers what each week's claim asks you and the job search you have to report with it.