I'm not sure if this is generally how it goes, but I applied last year on March 29, was accepted, received an email notifying that I was an official candidate on May 30th. The email contains instructions on logging into the Candidate Information System(CIS). So it takes some time but once you get the email, you have access to the portal and can start checking things off(recommendation letters, ECA validation, etc.) CFA should be checked off when you first log in if you took it at Summer Seminar and passed.