I understand you can apply after 6 months and all boxes ticked
Under the new system that is a minimum of six months after the date of release to line. That is more like a year and possibly more on the 757 if you don't start line training until the winter season.
The good news is that providing you meet the criteria you will get a hearing unlike those airlines where you wait 15 years plus just because of your joining date or inside leg measurement or whatever those who slam the door and pull up the ladder have decided this week.
10 years in, 4 redundancies, 3 years in ME, 7000 hours and I have had to go back to two stripes to get into our national.
Try 21 years, more redundancies than will fit on the page, more than 10000 hours and all your friends hinting it is maybe time to give up, then ask for sympathy. Two stripes and a head full of grey hair is a bit embarrasing on the car park bus but it's only a uniform at the end of the day and most of the punters haven't a clue what the braid signifies. Two stripes is also a lot better than none at all.