Time for the authority to approve conversion of composition to regular

We have filed an application for the conversion of composition to the regular GST number in the month of February 2022 but it was not approved till now and when we go to the GST department they said that they will convert to the regular number but we have to file the GST return from the February and it suggest us that what we should do for saving the penalty as it was not our mistake. The application was not approved by the department due to transfer of the concerning officer.