Bill Benos focuses his practice on strategic legal planning for internationally-based companies and individuals seeking to enter the United States market. Bill uses over 30 years of experience to assist international companies with their foreign direct investments (FDI), the formation and capitalization of business entities, the coordination of immigration strategy with investment plans and related business planning. Given that several of Bill’s clients provide services to or do business with U.S. government agencies, he also counsels companies on matters related to government contracting and on planning their business and immigration affairs to conduct such business successfully.
Bill Benos focuses his practice on strategic legal planning for internationally-based companies and individuals seeking to enter the United States market. Bill uses over 30 years of experience to assist international companies with their foreign direct investments (FDI), the formation and capitalization of business entities, the coordination of immigration strategy with investment plans and related business planning. Given that several of Bill’s clients provide services to or do business with U.S. government agencies, he also counsels companies on matters related to government contracting and on planning their business and immigration affairs to conduct such business successfully.
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. Bill’s extensive experience in the immigration field includes representing business professionals with nonimmigrant visas, intracompany transfers, and investor visas. He assists businesses and individuals with permanent residency matters, including labor certifications, employment-based petitions, and investment-based petitions. He also helps businesses with immigration compliance matters such as I-9 programs and ICE inspections.
Since 2004, Bill has served as honorary consul in Virginia for the Canadian government. A native Canadian, he has coordinated several diplomatic trips connecting Canadian enterprises with business leaders in the United States. Bill is an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he teaches a class on immigration law, and he has been an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond School of Law for the past 24 years, where he currently teaches an externship in international business practice and a course in immigration law. Bill has served 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" from Virginia Business magazine (2019-present). He also has served as a past chair of the International Practice Section of the Virginia State Bar. Bill currently chairs the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Foundation, and he has served as chair of Community in Schools in the county where he resides and as a trustee of the Chesterfield Education Foundation.
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 in London, Ontario, Canada, and his Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from the University of Richmond School of Law. Bill is fluent in Greek, which enables him to assist Greek companies expanding into the U.S.
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01.20.2021
Labor, Employment and Immigration Law Changes to Expect from the Biden Administration
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12.01.2020
61 Williams Mullen Attorneys Named to Virginia Business Magazine’s Legal Elite for 2020
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08.20.2020
116 Williams Mullen Attorneys Listed in 2021 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©; Most Total Lawyers in Virginia
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01.15.2020
New Electronic H-1B Registration Process Confirmed for Fiscal Year 2021
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12.04.2019
55 Williams Mullen Attorneys Named to Virginia Business Magazine’s Legal Elite for 2019
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08.15.2019
119 Williams Mullen Attorneys Listed in 2020 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©
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04.04.2019
Immigration Team Files More than 100 H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions
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12.04.2018
DHS Proposal Could Drastically Change H-1B Cap Filing Seasons
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08.15.2018
110 Williams Mullen Attorneys Listed in Latest Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©
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02.05.2018
It’s Time to Start Preparing for H-1B Cap Season
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08.14.2017
114 Williams Mullen Attorneys Listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2018
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05.10.2017
Bill Benos Analyzes Significance of the Fourth Circuit Executive Order Appeal
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12.05.2013
Williams Mullen Economic Development Team Helps Bring $2.1 million and 125 Jobs to Smyth County, Virginia
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09.20.2013
Williams Mullen Helps Korona S.A. Establish $18 Million U.S. Manufacturing Facility
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07.25.2012
Alternative Strategies in the Wake of Meeting the H-1B Cap
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11.22.2011
November 2011 Immigration Update
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06.29.2011
North Carolina's Version of E-Verify Signed Into Law
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05.26.2011
May 2011 Immigration Update
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05.20.2011
Update on International Business Compliance
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03.30.2011
March 2011 Immigration Update
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02.22.2011
February 2011 Immigration Update
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01.12.2011
January 2011 Immigration Update
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01.02.2011
Highlights in International Trade and Commerce
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12.06.2010
December 2010 Immigration Update
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11.05.2010
Highlights in International Trade and Commerce
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10.22.2010
Highlights in International Trade and Commerce
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10.01.2010
October 2010 Immigration Update: HR; USCIS Fee Increase; H-1B Cap Count; Employers Criminally Charged; DREAM Act
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04.23.2010
Highlights in Internaltional Trade and Commerce
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04.15.2010
April 2010 Immigration Update
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03.22.2010
March 2010 Immigration Update: H-1B Petition Filings; Changes in Visa Fees; TARP Funds Guidelines; E-Verify and ICE Audit News
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03.01.2010
March 2010 Immigration Update: Basic options for companies looking to do business in the U.S.; Form DS-160 changes; and update to H-1B Visa Employer/Employee status.
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01.01.2010
January 2010 Immigration Update: ICE Audits 1,000 employers in November; H-1B Quota or Cap; E-Verify News; REAL ID Material Compliance; Visa Application Changes at the U.S. Embassies; ICE News
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12.24.2009
Special E-Verify Alert
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11.01.2009
November 2009 Immigration Update: Unannounced site visits for H-1B employers; FY2010 DHS Security Appropriations Bill; “public charges”; Columbia Farms deferred prosecution; E-Verifying entire workforces and an update to the H-1B cap count
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03.05.2009
Highlights in International Trade and Commerce
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11.10.2008
Williams Mullen Attorney Hosts Canadian Ambassador to the United States
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08.01.2008
Highlights in International Trade and Commerce
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05.19.2008
Highlights in International Trade and Commerce
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03.19.2008
Highlights in International Trade and Commerce
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02.07.2008
Highlights in International Trade and Commerce
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03.27.2019
What’s with Canada? Gain insight into why so many U.S. firms are establishing a presence in Canada.
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10.20.2017
Immigration: Exploring Today’s Legal Landscape
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03.07.2014
Business and Partnering Opportunities in Canada: A Panel Discussion
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09.11.2008
The Immigration Crisis Continues: Is Your Hospital Ready for 2009 and Beyond?