So, this is interesting for anyone with spouse/dependents and had questions about BIL requests. I just received the following update on my EE account:
My situation: primary applicant residing in US, spouse residing in Canada. I received a BIL request for my wife about 2 weeks back. Since she is living in Canada, and the letter stated Biometrics would need to be collected outside the country, this sounded strange as seen online on CIC website it's stated that Biometrics are not required. Also even more strange because I only had paid for 1 Biometrics fee. We called, sent several CSEs, but nothing changed, until today. Also, 2 days ago I received a BIL request for myself, and that really made me think a mistake was done on their side, as I only had paid for 1 Biometric fee.
Unfortunately we had already arranged for flight tickets (as she's Iranian and couldn't just go in US) which we cannot now get refunded because the flight was in less than 72 hours. Keep up the good work CIC!