Note: As of July 11, 2017, fee waivers for the 2017-2018 application cycle are no longer available and applications are no longer being accepted. You can apply for a fee waiver for the 2018-2019 application cycle when it opens in April 2018.
May 2, 2011. 1  Several factors determine how long you can draw unemployment insurance benefits in Texas. 2  State unemployment benefits in Texas and elsewhere usually are payable for up to 26 weeks, or six months. 3  Federal funding is available in Texas and all other states only through the end of 2011 unless the government chooses to extend it.
Under normal times, an individual can collect unemployment benefits for a maximum of 26 weeks. But after the recession, Congress passed the emergency benefit program to extend that duration to 73 weeks, although the exact length varied by state. Now, federal benefits have returned to their 26 week duration. Two states - Montana (28 weeks) and Massachusetts (30 weeks) - offer benefits for slightly longer. Some states offer them for less than 26 weeks. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities put together a map of the duration lengths for different states now that emergency benefits have expired.