Can I collect unemployment after working abroad for a foreign company and being laid off?

by Jo

(NYC)

I worked abroad for a foreign company and was made redundant. I live in NYS. Can I collect unemployment? When I applied online, there is only the option to enter the tax id of the employer so i can go no further. it is nearly impossible to get a live person on the phone in Albany. What do you think?

Hi Jo,

I think no. Unemployment in the US is funded by US employers. You must have enough wage credits in the last eighteen months from working in “covered employment” to be eligible. And your most recent separation from covered employment must be qualifying.

Comments for Can I collect unemployment after working abroad for a foreign company and being laid off?

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Dec 02, 2016
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Moving to Canada to search for jobs

by: Chris – Unemployment-Tips.com

I’m not sure anonymous.

But if I were you, I might just call a SC workforce center and ask the question .. since it doesn’t sound like you have “moved” yet. (But who would actually move to a different country until they had a firm job offer giving them reason to move?)

Or, I might also learn what the answer from the SC dept. should be by first taking a look at the claimant’s benefit handbook and a little follow up using the comparison charts table of content.

ctrl+f “locality”.

Dec 01, 2016
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Moving to Canada to search for jobs

by: Anonymous

I was laid off from my job as a chemist. Want to move to Toronto Canada where jobs in my field are abundant. Can I collect South Caroline unemployment benefits while job searching there.

Feb 01, 2011
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being laid off from a multi national company

by: joseph

I also worked for a foreign company, a UK bank, and got laid off (made redundant). Now I am back in US. The UK bank I worked for has muti-national operations. It has office in NYC, and I am sure it pays unemployment insurance to NYS. In this case, am I eligible for unemployment benefit?

This is just a guess .. but I would think that if you were working for a foreign company in the UK that would have nothing to do with them having to pay unemployment tax for those working in one of their operations conducted in the US ..

It’s a guess .. because I never worked in the unemployment tax department .. which was a service my former employer provided and the one that I completely understood the value of. .. because it confused me:)