Remote work policy and relocation approvals

I’ve been working remotely for the past several years for a large international corporation including pre-Covid, and like a lot of companies, mine has moved to an expectation of about two days a week in the office if you live near one. I currently don’t, so I’m still fully remote.

I’ve wanted to move for quite a while. I ended up back in the Carolinas during COVID, expecting it to be temporary, but life happened and I’ve been here ever since. Before that I lived in San Diego and Los Angeles, and I’d really like to get back out West.

My company has offices near Irvine, CA and Bellevue, WA, so those are logical options if I end up following the hybrid policy. What complicates things is that we also allow existing remote employees to request relocation to states where we don’t have an office, but it requires multiple levels of approval through management, HR, and several VPs. From what I’ve heard, it can take months, and you have to make a solid business case.
Oregon would honestly be my first choice, somewhere around Beaverton or another Portland suburb, but it would require going through that approval process.

I’m curious if anyone here has successfully navigated something similar. Have you convinced your employer to let you relocate somewhere outside your company’s office footprint while remaining remote? If so, what made your request successful? Was it based on performance, business need, retention, manager support, or something else?
I’m mainly looking for real experiences and advice from people who’ve been through it.