Urgent Phone Interview Help! Spouse vs. fiancé when relocating for partner's job (claim, EDD)

[missionatx]

Hi folks,

I have a phone interview tomorrow morning and my online research hasn't yielded much help for my situation. Really hoping you can offer some last-minute advice!

Backstory: This past July, my partner of 2 years was assigned a mandatory year-long internship in Austin, TX as part of her PhD program. We had both been living in San Francisco, CA, where I worked at a large corporation for the past 4 years. I had to decide between keeping my job or my relationship, so I made the tough call to pack up and move to Texas. This is a voluntary quit but I'm hoping to prove good cause under the "moved for spouse" justification. The problem is that we're not married or registered domestic partners in California. We do want to get married at some point but aren't quite there yet. I've read all the legal info here: https://www.edd.ca.gov/uibdg/Voluntary_Quit_VQ_155.htm

This section seems to provide a loophole if we intend to get married:

Marriage and Honeymoon
Department policy with respect to claimants who quit to be married is equally applicable to either males or females. Quitting to be married will be with good cause provided:

the marriage has occurred or was imminent at the time of quit;
the marriage necessitated the claimant's relocation to a new residence;
it would be impractical for the claimant to commute to the place of employment from the new residence;
and the claimant took reasonable steps, such as requesting a transfer, to protect the employment relationship.

I did take multiple steps to preserve employment, including requesting a transfer and working remotely, but was denied by senior management. Is the only other option to claim that I'm engaged? And if so, what proof or documentation might I need to show? When I initially talked with my managers, the reason for moving was that my partner got an internship and I have to move as well. I didn't mention an "imminent marriage," but am not sure that's relevant from my employer's end so much as the state's, correct? Would I need to claim that we got engaged before my last day, or before I gave notice? There is so little info out there about this...

I would obviously prefer NOT to lie (!), but the hiring process is much slower in my field here than I'd anticipated and the UI would be a lifesaver while I continue job hunting. Any tips would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[Rabrrita]

If you were not married, did not have a registered domestic partner, or engaged with a wedding date already set at the time, the only other available option would be if you have or was expecting a child. So the odds are very slim.

CA is very liberal in it's interpretations of the regulations but it's not the wild west. You can't say you wanted to get married or you planned to get married, they want to see you are getting married on the date you quit your job. EDD has even been reluctance to accept "Hold the Date" announcement as that's not enough of an actual step.

But, it is CA so give it a shot. Hopefully one of the regulars with greater knowledge of EDD's trailing spouse loopholes will chime in soon.