Craziest thing... I called the DMV again, they told me they can't really see much on my DL application in their system so I should go back in. This time I went to a different MVD (the one in Tempe). They were much more on top of everything than the first office I went to. It took them a while (another hour for me in there) but in the end they issued me a DL valid for 1 year from the NOA date! :)))