Upcoming VARA positions have absolutely nothing to do with VA or the recent and current round of interviews and nor should they.
Positions being interviewed are to re-stock the hold file with a view to feed into VAI SO and VANZ FO positions.
Current VA crew have had no input on the VARA integration scenario.
As far as communication with HR, I'm not exactly sure what you are expecting. Weekly updates?
Whilst we look at our own cases in isolation, there are hundreds of files being worked on, and not only for pilot recruitment. VA still have interviews scheduled in the coming months and I can tell you from an operational standpoint we are very short on FO's. Resource planning changes all the time, so if you are at the reference check stage, just sit tight.