Passport Request

Hi,
I have a question. My husband came to Canada on a visitor visa. He than applied for Refugee, and than withdrew his application and left Canada. Now I am sponsoring him outland. When he went to his interview the VO asked him about his Deportation, which he knew nothing about. She said that she would get more info but that it stated that there was a deportation order issued when his visitor visa expired. The whole time he was here, he was legal, he even had a SIN card. So we were really surprised. Now after 3 years they have requested his passport so that they can issue the visa (stated so in the email). He will be going shortly to get it. But now I'm getting scared. They never asked him to apply for ARC or pay the arc fee.
On the CIC website it states that if you are applying for PR, you do NOT need to apply separately for ARC. The ARC would be dealt with within the application.
So I assume by them not asking for it, that he does not need one? What are your thoughts? I don't want any problems when he lands.
I'm guessing they realized that he wasn't actually deported.