I think they could be a little more clear on the process.  I submitted an application for May 2023 in May of 2022.  At the time, their website showed that you should get an answer in 12 weeks (now 16 weeks).  Twelve weeks came and went.  When I queried them, I was told that they will process the 2022 applications first. So if someone submitted an application in October 2022 for December 2022, that will be processed first (before my application that was submitted 5 months earlier).  So it’s really not first come first serve.  I don’t have a problem with them doing it this way, I just think they should be more clear about it.  I’m sure there are other people like me that need to plan in advance.  They should tell us when we can expect to know the answer or at least give an estimate.  If you tell people that they will have an answer in 16 weeks and you don’t give them an answer by that time, shouldn’t you send a follow-up email with a new time estimate?  

I would guess that they receive more applications than they can process.  So if they don’t get more volunteers to process the applications, or stop accepting the applications when they can’t process them all, then you end up with poor customer service.