At least for AA, the status is not updated until the EQM/EQP are posted. My partner completed the qualifying miles on 12/31 (a cathay flight). The miles were not credited to his account until yesterday. In the interim, we flew domestic AA JFK-LAX (1/7/06). AA would not grant him a free domestic upgrade as the miles from CX had not yet posted. He offered to fax in the CX boarding pass, but was told that doing so would not expedite the change in status. He ended up using his sticker account.
His status changed to EXP the same day CX miles got posted to the AA account. Unfortunately, AA refused to refund his stickers as they considered him a PLT when we took that LA flight.