Oh ok! And is there any order in which this happens? I was reading online that background check begins only after your eligibility is met. However I know so many people (including myself) for whom eligibility is still pending but the background check is complete.
Please also tell what all is covered under eligibility that the background check doesn’t cover. I am asking because I want to get an estimate of how much work is still pending on my application.
Much appreciate your response!
Yeah, there's a "usual order" - it's Criminality, Eligibility and then Security. This is how most applications are expected to be processed, but it always doesn't happen in that order, or updates don't reach us in that order. Security was in "not started" for many people even on the day of PPR, this doesn't mean security didn't happen, rather that they just didn't update the status. It's not at all easy, or in my opinion wise, to guess your time left from these status updates from agents.
Eligibility is basically checking if you have met the program prerequisites under which you applied. This is in 2 stages 1 is MEC(Minimum Entry Criteria), that is, applicants must meet the program requirements of the FSW or CEC etc. Second part is CRS - You have to make sure your CRS points are above the cutoff for the draw in which you submitted.
Background consists of Criminality which is based on Police Clearance Certificates in which the you have lived for more than 6 months. Security is a different process and is done by a third party (CBSA) - takes into account number of countries visited, applicant country of residence and the political situation there, past law enforcement or military record etc. More serious stuff basically.
As you can see, they are very different things.
