Waiting 21 weeks on my first unemployment payment

I applied for unemployment in Birmingham 21 weeks ago and the status page still says pending. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. The page shows my claim as open but no payment date. Is there a step I could have missed?

Keep everything in writing and save the confirmation numbers. It saved me later.

Mine took about 21 weeks because of an identity check I did not notice. Look for a message or a letter you may have missed in your online account.