How do you apply for unemployment benefits in Arizona?

DES does not pay for weeks before you apply, apart from the few cases under "When to apply" below, so file as soon as possible after your last day of work. If you are still working, the Department says to wait until after your last day before you start the application.

Every way to file an Arizona claim

• Online in CACTUS. CACTUS is DES's self-service portal at uibenefits.az.gov, open since September 7, 2025. You file your claim there, and the same account later takes your weekly certifications, work search, documents, and any appeal.
• On a free computer at an ARIZONA@WORK center. DES lists unemployment benefits among its services available online and by phone only, so a center gives you a computer to file on at no cost rather than a claims desk. Find an ARIZONA@WORK center.
• By mail on the paper form. DES's apply page offers the Arizona Initial Claim for Unemployment Insurance in English and in Spanish to download, complete, and mail back. Anyone under 18 files this way, because ID.me is not available to minors. DES's forms page lists the paper application as the Arizona Application for Unemployment Insurance Benefits, UIB-1272A (UIB-1272A-S in Spanish).
• By phone. DES's claims rule lets a person file an initial claim on a toll-free number the Department publishes, though it lets DES limit the methods it offers. Call 1-877-600-2722 and choose Option 1 to hear how to apply.

DES's applying questions page says "You must apply online using the CACTUS portal," but the claims rule and DES's apply page both allow other routes. If CACTUS will not work for you, get the paper form from DES's apply page or ask the UI Call Center which route it will take.

The current paper application, form UIB-1272A, says to send it signed by mail to Arizona Department of Economic Security, Unemployment Insurance Program, P.O. Box 29225, Mail Drop 5895, Phoenix, AZ 85038-9225; by fax to (602) 364-1210 or (602) 364-1211 in Phoenix, or (520) 770-3357 or (520) 770-3358 in Tucson; or by email to UIClaimdocs@azdes.gov. It says new claims are usually processed within 3 weeks of the date you submit the application.

Your application is complete only when you receive a confirmation number after certifying that your answers are true. With no confirmation number, DES says to complete the application again or call the UI Call Center.

When to apply and the Sunday your claim dates from

Your claim normally takes effect on the Sunday of the week you apply, so a claim filed on a Thursday dates from the Sunday before. That Sunday starts your benefit year, which ends 365 days later; the end date prints on your Monetary Determination, the letter that lists your wages and weekly amount.

DES's apply page says you can apply online anytime. The Department's January 2025 leaflet on doing unemployment business by internet or telephone gives narrower hours for starting a claim online, 12:01 a.m. Sunday to 5 p.m. Friday. DES's forms page no longer links that leaflet, so its hours are the leaflet's and may no longer apply.

A claim you file by mail dates from the week you asked for the forms if you return them within 7 days of when DES mailed or gave them to you; otherwise it dates from the week you mail them, going by the postmark. The Department's claims rule also lets DES give a claim an earlier date if its own wrong information made you delay filing, if it did not provide accessible claim services so you could not file on time, or if you filed on time in another state and that claim was cancelled or denied, or you did not qualify there.

If you worked in another state as well as Arizona, you choose which state to file in; who qualifies explains how combined wages work.

What to have ready before you start

• Your Social Security number, mailing address, and county of residence
• Your driver's license or state ID number (ID.me will not accept an expired license)
• Names, addresses, and phone numbers of every employer from the last 18 months, with the correct mailing address and phone number of your most recent employer as it appears on your paystub
• Your last day of work
• The gross amount and date of any severance, vacation, holiday, or unused sick pay
• Your union hall's name and local number, if you have one
• For a pension other than Social Security: its start date, monthly amount, and the percentage you contributed
• Your Alien Registration Number, if you have one
• Copy 4 of your DD-214, the service member's copy, if you left the military within the last 18 months
• Your SF8 (Notice to Federal Employees About Unemployment Insurance) or SF50 (Notice of Personnel Action), if you worked in federal civilian service within the last 18 months

If you are in Arizona's Address Confidentiality Program, give DES your own phone number, not the program's, so the Department can reach you.

Getting past ID.me and into CACTUS

New claimants must verify their identity with ID.me before they can submit a claim, using a government-issued ID and a Social Security number. The ID.me step appears inside CACTUS, and you verify only once.

1. If ID.me cannot verify you on the first try, it offers other ways to try again.
2. The last of those is a live, recorded video call with an ID.me Trusted Referee.
3. For technical trouble, ID.me's support page answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and Option 2 on DES's phone menu covers ID.me help.
4. If you still cannot verify, follow the instructions in the online application. You must verify to keep filing weekly certifications.

Locked out of CACTUS itself? After too many failed sign-ins, CACTUS shows a page telling you to try again in a few minutes, so wait before your next attempt. If you have lost your username or password, DES's guide to retrieving your CACTUS username and creating a password gives these steps:

1. Go to the CACTUS login page, click Sign In/Register, and choose Individual.
2. Click Retrieve User Name or Password.
3. On the next page, scroll down and click retrieve User Name and Password.
4. Select Individual and enter the personal information it asks for. Some users are sent to ID.me to verify and then brought back.
5. View your username, write it down, and keep it somewhere safe.
6. Create a new password that follows the password rules, and click Save.

DES also posts a video in English and Spanish on the same steps on its CACTUS page. DES's ID.me page covers the rest of the verification questions, including minors.

Calling DES about a new claim

The UI Call Center's numbers are 1 (877) 600-2722 toll free, (602) 364-2722 in Phoenix, and (520) 791-2722 in Tucson; relay service for deaf and hard of hearing callers is 711. Its phone menu works like this:

The only live-agent hours DES has published are in that January 2025 leaflet: Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Mountain Standard Time. DES has not repeated them on a current page, so treat them as the leaflet's.

For recorded claim and payment status, call 1 (877) 766-8477, or (602) 417-3800 in Phoenix and (520) 884-8477 in Tucson. Status by phone needs your 4-digit PIN, which you create in CACTUS under your name in My Workspace. DES's handbook says the call center's automated system answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with your latest payment and remaining balance. If you applied by telephone, DES says you create a PIN that you use to file all future weekly claims and to view payment information.

The call center offers Spanish, and choosing it sends you to a Spanish-speaking agent. DES provides interpreters in other languages free of charge.

What happens in the first weeks

1. Within 2 days, DES registers you with AZ Job Connection, the state job bank. Log in to finish your registration. If you registered there before and your details no longer match, DES mails instructions with a deadline, and missing it can delay or deny payments.
2. DES tells your last employer about the claim and the reason you gave for leaving. By law the employer can protest within 10 business days of that notice.
3. Within about a week, the mail brings DES's Guide to Arizona UI Benefits, your Monetary Determination, and a Certificate of Understanding (UB-99Y), which you complete and return. Some people also get an Electronic Payment Card from Comerica in a plain envelope that looks like junk mail, a questionnaire (UB-436) for each issue the application raised, or a Report of Illness or Physical Disability (UB-296).
4. Check the wages on your Monetary Determination. If any are wrong or missing, file a wage protest; you can do it any time before your benefit year ends, but DES says to file within 10 working days of the notice date to avoid payment delays.
5. From the Sunday after you apply, file your first weekly claim, whether or not DES has processed the application. The window runs Sunday 12:01 a.m. to Friday 6:00 p.m. Arizona time, and a Friday state holiday moves the deadline to Thursday at 6 p.m. Filing weekly claims covers the rest.
6. Your first eligible week is the waiting week, and DES does not pay it. With no issues on the claim, the first payment normally follows your second weekly claim, within about 10 business days. When an issue needs a decision, such as severance to verify, it usually takes up to 15 business days if you are found eligible, and some take longer.

DES holds payments until you meet every requirement: weekly claims, the returned UB-99Y, Employment Service registration, and any wage protest your wages need. DES may also select you for its Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment, and once selected, taking part is mandatory to keep receiving benefits.

Sending DES the documents it asks for

The law requires you to give DES enough documents or information to decide your claim, and DES may treat the claim as invalid until you produce ones you are able to produce.

• Upload in CACTUS. Responding to a request for more information is built into the portal.
• By fax. Fax them to (602) 364-1210 in Phoenix or fax them to (520) 770-3357 in Tucson. The DES contact page lists its other fax lines.
• By mail. Department of Economic Security, Unemployment Insurance Administration, P.O. Box 29225, Mail Drop 5895, Phoenix, Arizona 85038-9225.
• By email. DES's handbook gives uiclaimdocs@azdes.gov for sending wage protest proof, and the paper application gives the same address for sending the completed form. DES's contact page also lists a document inbox. It says nobody monitors it or replies, and it takes only PDF, Doc, Docx, Txt, Rtf, JPEG, or PNG files, never password-protected, encrypted, or embedded ones.

To change your name, address, or phone number, fax or mail DES's Personal Information Change Request form. You can also update your address by calling the UI Call Center and choosing Option 4.

Can independent contractors file for unemployment in Arizona?

Yes, you can file, and DES decides whether your work counts. The U.S. Department of Labor says every unemployed person has the right to file and the state decides eligibility after the application. It adds that people paid on an IRS Form 1099 with no taxes withheld are generally independent contractors, and that pay does not count toward the wage requirements.

What decides it in Arizona is control. The state's unemployment law treats you as an employee if the business directed both how you did the work and the result, and it names signs of control: your hours, where you worked, your right to work for others, and who supplied tools, equipment, materials, expenses, and helpers. A genuine independent contractor, business person, agent, or consultant is not an employee under that law. DES's own rule adds that control includes the right to control, not only control actually used, and that both employment and independence are decided on the preponderance of the evidence.

The label your client used does not settle it. DES must weigh all the employment facts, and its rule says to analyze the substance of the relationship, not merely its form: control over the result is usual in any contract, and it is added control over how the work is done that can make you an employee. The law also bars DES from deciding against you only because you ran a sole proprietorship, signed a confidentiality or restrictive agreement, or had to meet a client's standards for quality, time, or location. Anyone the federal government treats as an employee for federal unemployment tax is an employee under Arizona's law too.

Your claim also needs wages from an employer that paid Arizona unemployment tax. If your Monetary Determination leaves out pay you believe was wages, a wage protest can include 1099 forms among its proof, and DES decides from there.

Federal employees during a shutdown

A federal worker claims in the state of the last official duty station on the most recent SF-50. If you worked another job after leaving federal service, you file in that job's state instead, and if your last duty station was outside the United States, you file where you live. The eligibility rules are the regular program's.

The U.S. Department of Labor sorts shutdown workers like this:

• Furloughed workers, not working or paid during the lapse in funding, answer the same eligibility questions as anyone else.
• Excepted workers kept on full time are not unemployed and cannot collect. Intermittent excepted workers may be eligible for weeks they do not work full time, and must report hours worked even before they are paid.
• Exempt workers, whose jobs are funded from other sources or are not subject to furlough, are not unemployed while they work full time.

Federal law requires an active work search, though the Labor Department says many states waive or defer it for a furloughed worker still attached to the job. DES gives you its instructions when you file. If back pay later covers weeks you were paid benefits, report it to DES promptly; DES may set an overpayment, which appeals and overpayments explains.