CIC sucks big-time! I moved to Canada 11 years back on a student visa. Never had any problems with Cic or law enforcement. Only travelled outside twice that to just for 30 days in total in last 11 years.Remained Employed during the last 10 years. Not sure why the hell criminality is taking this frekking long. Many Nov/dec2020 applicants are done with test. Not sure what went wrong with me.
Just a suggestion, why don't you apply for police check on your on from provinces you lived in Canada in last 11 years ? It's possible that you may get your own checks done quicker than IRCC. This way you would be able to see what's going on.
I am stuck at security which has no boundaries, its like a rabbit hole otherwise if would have applied for security check on my own to know what the heck is going on.
My friend I applied in June 2020 and have the same status as yours, everything is in process even the background verification. I also wanna highlight one of the theories/questions you posted earlier “ that you moved addresses and employers during your eligibility period” that sounds right to me this can impact the application ;the same is with me and background is still process.
I have three employers and five addresses in 5 years of eligibility period and i am proudly stuck under BC.
If your application is stuck in criminality, there is a good chance you'll be requested fingerprints.
Applicants mostly get stuck in criminality because their name is a common one and there was a hit/match with a person with a name/DOB who has a criminal record (in RCMP, FBI, Interpol and other police databases). RCMP issues criminality clearance. Criminality clearances are valid for 1 year.
If your application is stuck pending 'Security' checks, then the clearance is pending from CSIS. There is
one case where an applicant was even interviewed directly by CSIS to rule out matches with someone else who might have been deemed a security risk (but this type of interview is very rare). Security checks include deeper look into your background to ensure that you are NOT the person that CSIS is looking for / has some adverse information about. This might also happen if you worked for police / military / intelligence or any kind of law enforcement agencies before (again, this is only one of the possibilities). Security clearances are valid for 4 years.
To find out where your application is stuck, you'll have to order GCMS notes. In GCMS notes, if you see 'Criminality' is 'In Progress', then it is stuck in criminality. However, if you see 'Criminality' set to 'Passed', then we can deduce that it is stuck in security.
Generally, you will NOT receive a test invite unless your BG checks are set to "Completed" (this includes both criminality and security).
Having a common name isn't your fault. The reason your application is stuck in BG is probably not because of address changes or number of employers.