Hey Thames, I applied for the same grant in the US and also have no change in my status. But I called the NY Office a couple of times, and they told me that we should not expect to hear anytime before April (regardless of what the email in January said). Apparently all the applications for long-term grants (including the ones for phd scholarships) are handled/signed off by one person in Bonn office, and there has been a delay due to a great number of applications this year. So don't despair yet.