My reading of the major faction rules are that they have to be active for 30 days before they can app for major faction status. They haven't. We can push the current T3, then push and complete ANOTHER, for the Panatha Hex, before the end of this month, and then claim it early October -- before their 30 day period.
I won't lie; this will probably be a long, hard couple of weeks while we really push to get our dominions done. They will probably rebel against us, adding some frustration. But I will be damned if I'm going to let these upstarts just plop themselves down in my neighborhood, particularly, ignoring the RP of another player, either out of ignorance or foul play. Not gonna just sit here and let it happen if I can prevent it.