Hoover,
The recurrent was on my own dime, which was something of a problem with 4 months unemployed etc. It would have been 36 months since my last flight in the Airbus so the recurrent (some would say re-initial) was needed. I believe the security check took about 2 months, and that is based on when my application to API was complete to when I was notified the check was complete.
I did not have an interview of any kind.
I hope that helps.
"The abyss; am there, doing that"