In the US, in my late twenties, and yes I learned how to before I was even legally allowed on the roads here. I do still infrequently drive manual cars as I’m a bit of a car enthusiast. I prefer automatic for a daily driver, but any sports cars or older vehicles are more fun with a manual transmission!
I did the beta version last month. It was 10 days from hitting submit to getting it in the mail. Standard processing. Hopefully they’re able to keep processing times similar with the roll out.