Right to work in US on basis of partner.
 

My partner is an accademic in the final stages of her PHD in molecular biology in Australia. She is now examining where to go for her post doctoral studies and has her heart set on the US. Areas incude Boston, Silicon Valley CA

My question is, as a spouse, would I also be eligiable to work in the US and would US small/regional operators consider me. I imagine my TT would be around 3000 hrs and 1000 twin command by then.

Lots of good info regarding visas and work permits in the US on this forum -
http://forums.british-expats.com/vie...b39e663d78cc00
It would depend on what type of visa your wife will get. Very few visas allow the spouse to work. Even an H1 visa doesn't allow the spouse to work, unfortunately.
Basically, what we found was that you can only work once a work permit has been issued to you as part of the greencard application process. That process normally takes up to 3 years, with the work permit arriving about half way into the application process.
But check the immigration website, it has quite a lot of info on it. www.uscis.gov
Also, the airlines generally won't take you without a green card - they don't need to, they are inundated with Americans trying to get a job. I had to wait nearly 4 years after we moved here before I was eligible to work. It was a long wait, but I was fortunate to be involved with an aviation organisation that has a need for volunteer pilots, so was able to stay current while giving something back to the organisation. Otherwise I don't know what I would have done :( Having said that, I came here very ignorant of the immigration rules, so you already have a headstart :ok:
Hope this helps a little. Good luck with all your plans.

Yes, you will need to attempt to get the correct visa.
Generally student visas will grant residence to accompanying
family but no right to work (ie F1 and M1). My understanding
is that the J1 will permit a spouse to apply for right to work however
the J1 is likely to be more difficult to obtain - its an exchange program.
Spouse and children will generally be recognised, I doubt that
partnerships or partners would be recognised as applicants.

Some regional airlines in the US are having trouble filling classes. The problem is that the entry level jobs are in jets for the most part and many applicants haven't flown anything larger than a 172. SkyWest is aggressively hiring and has gone back to doing job fairs. It's common for applicants to simply not show up for an interview and in some cases new hires fail to appear for ground school. The people who have some relevant experience in turbine equipment have found better opportunities than a 17,000 first year paying job. Fractionals are hiring and majors like Continental hire the same people that are targeted by the regionals. I've seen guys with nothing more than right seat time in a turboprop get hired by CO. Southwest is hiring a lot of experienced regional captains and attrition at many regionals is back to the high rates seen prior to 9/11. So if you have the right to work in the US I'd apply.