1.) As long as you are not on welfare, or declared bankruptcy before you should be fine. I am sure there is no minimum requirement for married couples, it's more for common law partners.
2.) You have to move to Canada before his visa expires, there is no extension allowed on the visa I believe. But you are allowed to travel back to the U.S.A if need be.
3.) A letter from your mother stating she will let you live with her until you re-establish yourselves is good, some people say to get it notarized but I didn't, I just had her sign it. Also, if you could show you have job offers or a little write up of jobs you would apply for this would help you.
4.) The marriage license and the photos of your relationship should be good, again a little write up of why you have no formal wedding photos will help.
5.) Interviews are not always necessary it depends on if the visa officer needs confirmation on things that may give them doubts. So you might and you might not have an interview.
Medical exams are necessary for all applicants I believe. You should do this before you send your application and provide the paper you receive from the panel physician in your application.
It doesn't have to be right away, but I think it just moves the process along easier, and less money to ship that little paper receipt if you do it later on.
6.) You can call the CRA hotline, it is a robot, of course, it will take you through a number of options, you request your "Option C Printout/Notice of assessment"
they will ask for your birth date and social insurance number you enter it and it will ship it to you.
Now if you want it shipped outside of Canada I think you have to talk to someone. BUT Where the application says you need and original option c printout
it CAN be a photocopy, I called CIC they said it was ok, and I have been accepted as a sponsor. I had it mailed to my parent's house where they scanned and emailed
it to me, I printed it and added it to my application. It only takes a short time to arrive in Canada, but to have it shipped outside takes weeks!
Just a tip, It's not required but it is a good idea to write a cover letter there are samples online if you google. You just add a little write up about why your applying and a little fact with anything you might think the visa officer may find strange.
For example, my husband's birth name is not what people call him. So his facebook, skype, and everything use a different name. So we explained why they would see a different name in the chat logs than in the documents.
It just helps the visa officer understand anything he might doubt, and will be less of an issue to explain if you have an interview. There are outlines on what to write online!
Hope that helps!
