I suspect that December 2019/January 2020 was the absolute peak for applications once the Brexit 'deal' was reached, and that's why it's feeling slow for those of us who were Feb 2020 applicants.
In line with this, I also think that there are significant incomplete applications, in that the correct documents were not submitted - Coveney (2 March 2022) (this relates to passports, but I don't see why the same logic would not apply to FBR)
It's perfectly understandable that a FBR team would only work on a certain number of 'open applications' at any given time, and if they are waiting weeks for documents, then it theoretically slows the whole process down - if I had to guess, I would say that they are working on December 19 and January 20, both processing and waiting for documents.Figures show that of the total number of applications in the system, 57% are fully complete and are being processed by the Passport Service. The other 43% of applications in the system are incomplete, which means the Passport Service is waiting for the applicant to submit the necessary documentation required. While the Passport Service makes every effort to contact applicants in such circumstances, their experience is that many applicants take weeks and sometimes months to send in the necessary documents.
I passed 2 years and 1 month last week, so hoping for some news soon (I suspect I will hear in mid-April or May which will be a shame because I will hopefully be away from home for the first time in 2 years, and delaying my own passport application)