They stopped taking phone calls and would not reply to emails for the latter half of last year 2011. There was a notice on the Alliance website to that effect, that has now been removed. So am assuming they have now started taking calls. Try and call them. I don't want to discourage you, but I don't think it would matter much than to confirm what your status update already shows. I believe they are processing the applications as per when they were received and yours will be evaluated when your time comes around.