One+ year. This is completely Nuts.
The old system was actually not that much effective,and it was not really easy for the administrator handling numerous recovery issues,the more reason why there's been an upgrade on the methodologies of recovering hacked or stolen accounts
I think I saw a post recently on the recovery process coming along pretty good
Just follow the steps linked by S_Therapist,and I doubt it'll be too long before you have your account back, as long as due process is followed accordingly.