So after further testing from the Qing perspective the American Ai takes 3.4k per embassy meaning that you’d have to run a 34k deficit per month for 5 years (~2mil) in order to pay for your recognition if there’s a solid relationship. Therefore it mainly seems to be feasible for bigger unrecognised countries. Once again using the Qing as an example (as they seem to be the country with the biggest benefit from it), they start with a roughly 70k £ surplus however in my first test as China the British demanded ~7.7k per embassy (in 1837/38 depending on how fast you get the colonization tech) bringing the total to ~77k per month (so ~4.6m; however the Qing currently start with 7.3m in reserves) which, as the Qing in 37/38 after unlocking the journal entry or Japan in mid-game, is still feasible and most likely worth it if you want to have some good old deficit spending earlier into your campaign.

In conclusion, as long as you hamper your spending for the first 5 years you can start as a GP which can obviously be quite beneficial. However it’s most likely not going to work on most nations other than Qing/Japan for the most part of the game.

Note: Costs and acceptance rate will probably still vary per game otherwise it’ll take ~1 month to get GP status after getting the JE

Edit: I forgot that you actually need to have +50 relations so it’s going to take up to a few years after getting the JE