When a principal applicant and their spouse live in different countries, IRCC's passport submission request letter can read as if the whole family must submit together in one package — but that's not how it works in practice for couples spread across countries.
What group members confirmed:- Each applicant can submit at the VAC nearest to where they live. One member's spouse was the principal applicant based in the US while they were in Nigeria; each submitted locally and the passports came back stamped with no issues.
- Confirm with VFS staff before submitting. Another member asked the VFS Global staff directly whether submitting from different countries was acceptable — staff confirmed it was fine, and the submission went through without problems.
If you're in this situation, it's worth calling ahead or asking VFS staff on the day to confirm your specific centre's process, since local handling can vary slightly, but multiple applicants have successfully submitted passports from separate countries for the same application.