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.
Two states with high unemployment, Illinois and Nevada, had offered 73 weeks of benefits. California had offered 63 weeks, and most others offered 43 to 63 weeks. Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire and a group of Great Plains and Mountain states, several of which have relatively low unemployment because of the boom in oil and natural gas production, had offered 40 to 42 weeks.