William J. Benos

Bill Benos focuses his practice on immigration matters and strategic legal and business planning for companies and individuals seeking to invest or expand their operations in the United States.

As founder of the firm’s Immigration Practice, Bill combines his business and immigration experience to advise international clients on matters involving the cross-border movement of personnel and talent. Bill also assists international companies and individuals with foreign direct investments (FDI), the formation and capitalization of business entities, and the coordination of immigration strategy with their investment plans.

Bill’s extensive experience in the immigration field includes representing individuals with nonimmigrant visas, intracompany transfers, investor visas, and visas for individuals with extraordinary or exceptional ability, including those in the fields of business, the sciences, and the arts. He assists businesses and individuals with matters ranging from investment-based petitions, including EB-5 petitions, labor certifications, employment and family-based immigrant petitions, adjustment applications, to petitions to remove conditions on residence. Bill also deals with complex expatriation and naturalization matters, the preservation of lawful permanent residency, and immigration compliance matters.

Bill is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law where he has taught Immigration Law since 2007 and an externship in International Business Practice since 1995 and has also taught Immigration Law at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Bill served as honorary consul in Virginia for the Canadian government from 2004-2022, as a member of the Multi-Jurisdictional Practice Task Force for the Virginia State Bar, and as legal advisor to the Illegal Immigration Task Force for the Virginia State Crime Commission.

Bill is listed in The Best Lawyers in America^© for Immigration Law (2018-present). He is a member of the American Bar Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Virginia Bar Association and the Richmond Bar Association. Bill is also listed among the "Legal Elite" by Virginia Business magazine (2019-present). He has served as a trustee of the Chesterfield Education Foundation and has chaired the International Practice Section of the Virginia State Bar, the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Foundation, and the Community in Schools organization in the county where he resides.

Prior to joining the firm, Bill practiced corporate, business, and real estate law in London, Ontario, Canada. He received his LL.B. degree in 1982 from the University of Western Ontario School of Law (now Western) in London, Ontario, Canada, and his Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from the University of Richmond School of Law. Bill is fluent in Greek.

Experience

Provided strategic visa, business and corporate planning for foreign direct investment (FDI) matters
Represented multi-nationals with transfers of managers and executives between a company and its foreign affiliate or subsidiaries
Assisted and advised clients with nonimmigrant petitions and applications for qualified foreign nationals and their family members, including H-1Bs, TNs (for Canadian and Mexican citizens), L-1s, Blanket L-1s, E-1s, E-2s, E-3s (for Australian citizens), O-1s, P-1s, R-1s and others
Provided guidance and handled all aspects of the lawful permanent residency application process (i.e., green card application) for individuals including Form I-140 (EB-1) petitions including multinational executive and manager and outstanding researcher petitions PERM-based Form I-140 immigration petitions, and Form I-360 petitions for religious workers
Assisted and advised clients with obtaining permanent residency be it on the basis of employment or a familial relationship
Provided strategic advice to clients regarding business visits to the United States, and obtained work visas abroad for specialists, technicians, managers and other employees
Advised client with respect to foreign treaties and their application to visas, work permits and green cards, including Treaties of Foreign Commerce and Navigation affecting investment and trade visas; and North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) issues in Canada and Mexico
Advised client with respect to the use of Blanket L-1 visas, E-1 visas, E-2 visas and other transfer visas for employees of foreign subsidiaries, parents and affiliates working temporarily on assignments in the United States
Assisted clients with EB-5 and E class investor petitions
Assisted individuals with extraordinary or exceptional ability with visas, including those in the fields of business, the sciences, and the arts
Advised clients on expatriation and naturalization matters and matters pertaining to the maintenance of lawful permanent residency
Advised clients with respect to dealing with past criminal convictions or visa violations
Assisted clients with renewals or extensions of work permits and changes in status from visitor to work classifications, after entry into the foreign country

William J. Benos

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