Application pre-approved by DRIEETS - What are the usual delays

My business partner is relocating his business to France and I have recommended him to go for “Passeport talent mention “création d’entreprise” option. When I did the same back in 2019, the whole procedure was handled by the local consulate and took 9 months for me.

In 2022, when my partner contacted the embassy, they told him that the procedure is now different. The first step is to send the business plan and diplomas to DREETS and request for a certificate recognising the real and serious nature of a business creation project.

This was done and DREETS approved the business plan and send a certificate titled like below
“Avis de la DREETS attestant du caractère réel et sérieux d’un projet de création d’entreprise”,
with a summary:
“Et au regard des documents composant le dossier, la DREETS atteste du caractère réel et sérieux du projet de création de l’entreprise”

So, his next step was to submit all documents including this attestation to his local French consulate, this was around 2 months back.
My question is, how long does it take now? Is it still 3 to 6 months even if the business plan has already been approved? And also, is it normal that the embassy keeps the passport while processing (it was different for me in 2019, they only needed a photocopy of the passport).

Regards
T2