Appeal an unemployment denial in Arizona
An appeal has short deadlines. Find your deadline, then use the letter and checklist to get ready.
All about unemployment in Arizona
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Levels of appeal and deadlines
Request for reconsidered determination (optional)
DES Unemployment Insurance Administration
- Deadline
15 calendar days from the date DES mailed the determination (the same deadline as an appeal)
- How to file
- Before the appeal deadline, you can ask DES to reconsider instead of appealing, using the same form (UIB-0126A). DES must deny the request or issue a reconsidered determination within 7 calendar days. A denied request is treated as an appeal. If DES issues a reconsidered determination, your appeal time starts again from that date. Each side may ask for reconsideration only once per case.
- Where to send it
Department of Economic Security, Unemployment Insurance Program, Mail Drop 5895, PO Box 29225, Phoenix, AZ 85038-9225
Fax: 602-364-1210
- Official form
- Request for Reconsideration or Appeal (UIB-0126A)
- It must include
- Your name and Social Security number
- The date of the determination
- Why you disagree
- If it is late
- A reconsideration request must be made before the appeal deadline ends.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: A.R.S. 23-773(D)
Official source: Source page
Appeal to the Appeal Tribunal (hearing with an administrative law judge)
DES Office of Appeals, Appeal Tribunal
- Deadline
15 calendar days from the date DES mailed the Determination of Deputy to your last known address (if the notice was handed to you, you have 7 calendar days after delivery)
- How to file
- You can appeal online on the DES website, by phone at the number on the front of your determination, or in writing with the Appeal Request form (UIB-0126A) or a letter. Written appeals can be mailed, faxed to 602-364-1210 or 520-770-3357, or taken to any DES Employment Services office. Keep proof of how and when you appealed.
- Where to send it
Department of Economic Security, Unemployment Insurance Program, Mail Drop 5895, PO Box 29225, Phoenix, AZ 85038-9225
Fax: 602-364-1210
- Official form
- Request for Reconsideration or Appeal (UIB-0126A)
- It must include
- Your name and mailing address
- Your Social Security number
- The date of the notice you are appealing
- The reason for your appeal (for example, "I disagree with..")
- Your signature and the date
- If it is late
- If you do not appeal on time, the determination becomes final. A late appeal can be accepted only if the Office of Appeals finds a reason allowed by its rules.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: A.R.S. 23-773(B)
Official source: Source page
Petition for Review to the Appeals Board
DES Appeals Board
- Deadline
The date the judge's (Appeal Tribunal) decision was mailed or sent electronically
- How to file
- The judge's decision states the deadline for a Petition for Review and how to file it. Arizona law says the judge's decision becomes final unless a written or electronic petition is filed within 30 days after the decision is mailed or sent electronically; the DES appeals rule and Arizona legal aid say 15 calendar days after the decision is mailed. A petition filed within 15 days meets both. You can ask for the hearing recording. A petition is usually reviewed by one Board member; if a party objects, three members hear it.
- It must include
- Your name, mailing address and Social Security number
- The date and number of the judge's decision
- Why you disagree with the decision
- Your signature and the date
- If it is late
- If no petition is filed in time, the judge's decision becomes final.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: A.R.S. 23-671(D), 23-672
Official source: Source page
Application for Appeal to the Arizona Court of Appeals
- Deadline
30 calendar days from the date the Appeals Board decision was mailed or sent electronically
- What to know
- To ask the Court of Appeals to review the Appeals Board decision, file an Application for Appeal with the clerk of the Appeals Board (not with the court) within 30 days. The deadline is on the front page of the Board's decision. The court may grant or deny the application; if it denies it, the Board's decision is final. Only issues raised in your Petition for Review can be raised. No bond or docket fee is required.
Law: A.R.S. 41-1993(B)
Every state must give a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal to anyone whose claim is denied.
Law: 42 U.S.C. 503(a)(3) (Social Security Act sec. 303(a)(3))
Appeal deadline calculator
Pick the appeal and enter the date it runs from. We add the days from the state's rule to that date.
Appeal request letter
Fill in the boxes and get a letter you can print or send. You write the reasons in your own words. The letter is in English because the agency works in English.
Hearing preparation checklist
Logistics and rights from your state's hearing information, plus your own list of witnesses and documents.
The hearing
- Format
- Hearings are usually by telephone with an administrative law judge unless you ask for an in-person hearing. Your hearing notice explains how to ask.
- Documents and witnesses
- Your hearing notice explains how to send documents to the judge and how to have witnesses testify. The judge may not have papers you sent DES earlier, so check the documents sent with your notice and send any missing ones early to DES and to the other party at the address on the notice.
- Representation
- You can represent yourself, or be represented by an agent who charges no fee, or by an Arizona lawyer or certain paid agents. Fees for representation are limited by law and must be approved by DES.
- If you miss it
- You can ask to postpone the hearing if the parties agree or you show good cause. If you miss the hearing and the judge decides against you, you can file one written request to reopen within 15 calendar days of the mailing date of the decision, giving the reasons you did not appear. You must show that missing the hearing and not telling the judge in time were beyond your reasonable control or due to excusable neglect.
Law: A.R.S. 23-671(B), 23-674, 23-681; Ariz. Admin. Code R6-3-1503(B)(3)
Overpayments and waivers
If you got benefits you were not entitled to, you must repay them. DES can take the overpayment out of future benefits. Interest on overpayment debts builds at 10% a year. If DES finds fraud, it adds a 15% penalty, and you cannot get benefits again until the overpayment, penalty and interest are repaid. Fraud overpayments and penalties cannot be waived.
- Appeal within
- 15 days from the date DES mailed the overpayment determination
- Fraud penalty
- 15% added when the overpayment is fraud
- Waiver
- The state can waive some overpayments.
- The standard
- If you were overpaid without any fault on your part, and repaying (or having it taken from future benefits) would be against equity and good conscience, DES may waive all or part of the overpayment. DES may also waive part of the interest for good cause.
- How the state collects
- DES can deduct the debt from future benefits. If the overpayment was not your fault, the weekly deduction is limited to 25% of your weekly benefit in most cases. The Attorney General or county attorney can sue to collect.
Law: A.R.S. 23-787; A.R.S. 23-787(C), (G)
What federal law adds on overpayments
- Whether an overpayment can be waived, and how to ask, depends on your state's law. See your state's page.
- Your federal tax refund can be taken to pay a past-due state unemployment overpayment caused by fraud or by not reporting your earnings, once it is final under state law. Before this happens, the state must notify you and give you at least 60 days to show that the debt is not owed or not legally enforceable.
Law: 26 U.S.C. 6402(f)
- For fraud overpayments, the state must add a penalty of at least 15 percent.
Law: 42 U.S.C. 503(a)(11)
Free help
Call 1-877-600-2722. Legal aid and other free help in Arizona → Official sources →
More questions about unemployment in Arizona
Where can I get free help with an unemployment claim in Arizona?
AZLawHelp.org - Unemployment Benefits (Arizona legal aid; apply for free legal help) and Community Legal Services - Employment Law (helps low-wage workers with unemployment benefits).