An Express Entry applicant who added a spouse to the file mid-process received a passport request (PPR) that named only the primary applicant, with the spouse seemingly absent — prompting panic and an agent's proposal of a months-long passport-submission workaround. What the thread clarified:
- The PPR email names only the primary applicant — by design. Members confirmed that in both the PPR email and the request-for-visa (RFV) letter, only the principal applicant's name appears. A missing spouse name in that correspondence is not evidence the spouse was dropped from the application.
- Read the photograph instruction — it reveals who's included. The tell members pointed to: the letter's photo section says "provide photo of yourself and all dependants." That wording confirms dependants are part of the request even though they aren't named.
- Check the EE profile, not the email, for who's on the file. In the online EE profile itself, all dependants should be visible. If the spouse genuinely doesn't appear in the profile (as opposed to the PPR email), that's the thing to raise with IRCC via webform.
- Be wary of elaborate agent workarounds. The poster's agent proposed holding the passport for 3–4 months while chasing spouse biometrics through emails and webforms. Members' clarifications suggested first verifying whether anything was actually wrong before surrendering a passport for months.
Historical note: this is a 2020–2022 pandemic-era file with unusual delays and a spouse added after submission (status change); current processing patterns differ. The core lesson stands: understand what IRCC correspondence normally looks like before paying for a fix to a problem that may not exist.