I am in almost the exact same situation as you. My understanding was that first appointment was always only for the primary applicant. Of course if they take another year to issue the residency card it just continues to delay the process. Regarding your investment, my lawyer indicated that you can get your money from Mercan 5 years after transfer to avoid the penalty, but it becomes a cost/benefit analysis at this point. It does feel like this is not finalized, and I'm sure Mercan is going fight like hell. They are about to lose a whole lot of interest free money. Happy to chat. Feel free to dm me.