[Colorado] ID.me Verification Process

[soledad]

I had an entire month of focus going for me when all of a sudden -- whabam ( psh) -- I am hit with this four part letter from CDLE:

This is an official communication from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Unemployment Insurance Division.

Letter from Governor Jared Polis

Letter.pdf

ID.me Identity Verification

Many of you have seen messaging within your MyUI+ accounts notifying you that all claimants who have not yet verified their identity using ID.me will be required to do so over the coming weeks.

All claimants now have the option to complete the ID.me identity verification, but the requirement is being phased in over a period of weeks. When you are required to verify your identity using ID.me, you will receive an email from CDLE with instructions, as well as an “Identity Verification” issue on the “Issues and Determinations” screen within your MyUI+ account.

If you have not yet received an ID.me email from CDLE, or an “Identity Verification” issue within your MyUI+ account, you are not yet required to complete the ID.me process, though you will be in the near future. You can go ahead and do it now if you choose, or you can wait until you are required to do so.

Most claimants are able to complete their ID.me identity verification using a self-guided process which takes about 15 minutes. If that process fails, you may have to verify your identity on a live call with an ID.me representative. Unfortunately, wait times for live video calls remain high. Here are a few tips to avoid having to wait for a live representative:

Make sure photos/scans of identity documents are clear and legible (well-lit, not blurry)

When submitting your video selfies, make sure you are in a well-lit space

Claimants who do not have the necessary technology to complete ID.me (an internet-connected device with a camera) should contact us at 303-536-5615. For more information about ID.me identity verification, including a step-by-step how-to video, please visit the ID.me page at ColoradoUI.gov.

Benefit Year End

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PUA & Quarter Change

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Part two of this letter is, plainly, very scary ! Everyone will eventually be required to submit their documents through ID.me and I am currently undergoing this process now.

Tips/Advice for these processes:

1. Here are downloads for the ID.me Authenticator Apps: Android | Apple
2. Here is the official (and vague) ID.me YouTube Video with instructions
3. You must use a valid cell phone number (i.e. no Google Voice or Skype virtual numbers) to verify quickly and seamlessly. If you are unable to provide this part you must then upload documents and potentially meet with an "ID.me referee".
4. Read the instructions for uploading documents (i.e. images from your phone) and pay careful attention to "Portrait" and "Landscape" page orientation requests. These requests sneak up on you at the bottom of the document uploader. Identification documents they are looking for: Driver's License, State ID, Passport, SSN Card, Birth Certificate, Primary Insurance Card, Utility Bills, etc.
5. If your uploaded documents "cannot be automatically verified" then you must wait to meet an "ID.me referee" via webcam to verify your documents. This part is just as horrendous as reported on the CBS 4 nightly news show (04/02/2021) because of the excessive 5 or more hours of wait times for the "ID.me referee". Referees are available 24 hours per day but backlogged because other states have sent their people through ID.me too.
6. Be sure to also have your physical documents on hand for "ID.me referee" sessions.
7. If the wait page for the "ID.me referee" session times out (i.e. stops showing a wait time) simply refresh the page. You have to do so once approximately every 10-15 minutes.
8. Set aside a good block of time to wait and maybe knock some other weekly requirements out while having to wait.

[Mobile Reddit Cover]

 

[soledad]

Post-verification follow up: The wait for a ID.me referee took 7 hours, 12 minutes from start to finish. This does not include the original attempt to verify.

 

[minh]

@soledad Has anyone who was successfully verified gotten their payment from this week yet? I did my weekly cert at like 4 am on Sunday, and when I finished I was made aware of the need to do the id. me verification again, and that I wouldn't get payment until I did. I went ahead and did it and this week's payment still says pending issue.

 

[eetu]

@minh I haven't seen a penny sense the change over in December. "Exhausted_active". IDme verified after the second attempt. Colorado UI has created a "ticket". Anyone know about theses so-called. Tickets? Rep said to wait, there is a long line. Anyone heard any cherps about these"tickets"?

 

[soledad]

@minh Yes

 

[minh]

@soledad Did yours go through when it normally does or did you have " pending issues" for a couple days first?

 

[soledad]

@minh It went through as it normally did.

 

[minh]

@soledad And you did id.me before or after? Sorry about all the questions, I am just trying to gauge how long I'm going to have to wait this time.

 

[soledad]

@minh I started this thread while I was awaiting an ID.me referee at 8pm Monday. I was very "on the ball" about getting this process completed as soon as it was required of me and stayed up until almost 3am Monday night to get it done. So when I "ID.me-ed" I was cleared and my next requested payment came as scheduled. I do not have holds or pending issues.

 

[minh]

@soledad Ok. Mine must have gotten screwed up since I requested this week's benefits before I did ID verification. I had no idea that I had to do it at all, let alone before requesting. I was done and verified literally 15 minutes after submitting this week's claim, so around 4:30am Sunday. Hopefully they clear me up soon.

 

[jey]

@soledad what I dont understand is I started my unemployment this March so I had to verify right away thru id.me and I did. Was getting payments until this week. I saw the emails, however, it clearly stated if you have already verified to not do so again, so I hadnt. Heres the weird thing theres a pending issue but their determination says its completed but still a pending issue this sh*t is so ridiculous.

 

[jestifex]

@jey Same issue here! My identity verification says it’s been completed but determination is still pending.

 

[diananwshiro]

@jestifex Where does it say completed?

 

[samuel4christ]

@soledad I finally got through to one of the ID.me reps last night, and am now verified. I am just asking this question in case it helps others searching for answers.

I tried to take a photo of my Colorado driver's license both ways: landscape and portrait. One page tells you to take the photo one way, and then the following page tells you the other. Did someone here find success with one in particular?

Also, when taking a photo of your passport, make sure you open it up and take a photo of the whole open book, not just the page with your photo.

 

[soledad]

@samuel4christ Thanks for the advice. I dont know the answer as my ID.me process had to ultimately go through the "referee". How long did it take you?

 

[samuel4christ]

@soledad Hopefully someone here who DIDN'T go through a referee can tell us which direction they took the photo. Landscape would make the most sense, as then you would have less background showing. Portrait makes the most sense for the passport.

I got through in approximately 7 hours. Not sure exactly when I first logged in but it was around 3pm, and I finally connected at 10pm last night.

 

[soledad]

@samuel4christ Me too, 7 hours 12 minutes to be exact.

Think about how many non-tech savvy people are out there that WONT catch the orientation stipulation! Then a 7 hour wait time deters people and delays resolution. Evil or just stupidity?

 

[samuel4christ]

@soledad Evil AND stupidity.

Stupidity in the ID.me site. How can they not fix the photo orientation directions?!? I'm not some sort of super editor, and I noticed it right off the f'n bat.

Evil is in our unemployment system. Millions of people struggling, and the richest country in the history of the world can't provide for its citizens for just one year. It's absolutely sickening.

 

[blj]

@soledad What happens if you don’t have a valid number ?

 

[soledad]

@blj You will be funneled into the "ID.me referee process". Set aside time. I spent 7 hours, 12 minutes waiting for my turn late into last night. Here is a screenshot of what ID.me says about virtual numbers like Skype and Google Voice specifically: https://i.ibb.co/GsMn7tn/2021-04-04-212155.png