Petzold, you are correct that it takes longer for such applications, but myfic, you are also correct that it is not really a part of eligibility. It depends on what you mean by eligibility—from what I understand, "eligibility" means checking if you meet the requirements of the class under which you applied (e.g. fsw, cec) and if your attached documents support the points you claimed, are genuine, etc. But yes, applications with prior visa refusals take longer because the officer needs to check for inadmissibility, i.e., were you refused a visa because of some criminal reasons, etc.
Yes, I ordered gcms on 24th oct. Haven't got them yet, but soon will, I hope. I doubt I will see anything much in the gcms since they have not even started eligibility yet. Ordered them with the hope that it might help move things along.