Alaska residents had until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1 to request the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) corresponding to 2025. Although the amount has not yet been determined, the application process opened in January. Genevieve Wojtusik, director of the PFD Division, confirmed that state offices in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks closed at 4 p.m., but online applications remained active until midnight, so hundreds of thousands applied by then.
If you are one of the happy Alaskans who were able to apply for this juicy stimulus check, read on to learn all about the tentative payment dates and the amounts that are believed could be sent to beneficiaries this year: more than 600,000 people are eligible in 2025.
Permanent Fund Dividend: The stimulus check that everyone waits for every year
Although Tuesday, April 1, was Seward Day—a holiday that celebrates the purchase of Alaska in 1867—the PFD offices were open. “The team in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks were available to take requests,” Wojtusik explained. The measure seeks to facilitate access to residents before the definitive closure
In 2019, a record of 678,000 applications was reached, a figure that is not expected to be exceeded this year, although 20,000 additional applications could be added in the coming days. Last year, the PFD was $1,702, distributed to more than 624,000 residents. The highest amount was awarded in 2022: $3,284 per person.
The PFD director highlighted the advantages of the digital application: those who opt for direct deposit will receive payment in October, while physical checks will take additional weeks. “We advise submitting the application online to speed up the process,” he reiterated. In 2023, the state distributed more than $1 billion in dividends.
They propose PFD stimulus checks of up to $3,900
The Permanent Fund Dividend is a null payment distributed to Alaska residents, funded by the state’s oil revenues, managed by the Alaska Permanent Fund. Basically, it is a fair share of the state’s oil profits to its residents because, since you are going to exploit its resources, at least leave a part for each family to survive in one of the states with the highest cost of living in the United States.
The PFD, created in 1982, is calculated annually using available Permanent Fund income divided by the number of eligible applicants. Since 2017, the Alaska legislature has set the amount through budget negotiations, and it does not always follow a fixed formula, which introduces some variability.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed a 3,900 dividend by 2025, but lawmakers could adjust it. If the informal formula applied in previous years is used, the amount would be around 1,400. In 2023, the payment included an additional energy bonus, totaling $1,702. The final decision will depend on budget negotiations.
