You are referring to fairly old observations made on GCKey. I'm aware of those. However, they are purely based on applicants reports. It should be noted that the majority of applicants did indeed observe the said pattern going NA1->MEP->IP1->NA2->IP2 etc... However, it was usually discussed in the context of EE or PNP programs and my current application didn't follow that pattern. All of my statuses have been in progress right from the start and haven't changed in GCKey up until now; they have, however changed in the PR Tracker. Moreover, since those are not official statuses but reverse engineered ones and we have a bunch of new systems and processes (PR Portal, PR tracker etc), there is a high chance of changes to the process and how it is synchronized between legacy and modern systems. Especially, in light of mass updates to BGC on 19.04.
I can't say that you are wrong, but I prefer not to get excited too soon to avoid a disappointment. I'll be glad to be wrong on the other hand, and I'll certainly report further observations as this allows other to understand this somewhat obscured process.
