Same goes for ATPL applications - if you meet the requirements as they stand on December 2, and CASA has your application on December 3, bad luck because it won't be processed by December 4.
...which sounds like bull$hit to me but that's what all my crew were told by CASA FCL.
That's funny - we were told the opposite by the CASA guys at the talk last Wednesday night at Archerfield. They said as long as the application is with CASA before the 4th, then it will be processed via the existing rules.
Not surprising there are differences. We had 2 CASA fellas. One was reasonably switched on, but the other could be led round the garden path until he got dizzy and fell over.