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Peter Williamson

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Practice Areas

Education

University of Illinois, B.A., 1966

University of Texas, J.D., 1969

Honors

Best Lawyers in America® - Lawyer of the Year Immigration in Houston, 2025

Best Lawyers in America® - Immigration Law, 2025

Listed, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2010-present

Listed in Best Lawyers in America, 1993-present

Designated a "Texas Super Lawyer," 2003-present

Named a "Top Lawyer," Houstonia Magazine 2019-2022

Bar Admissions

Texas

Court Admissions

District Courts: Southern and Western Districts of Texas

Courts of Appeals: 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, & DC Circuits

U.S. Supreme Court

Profile

Peter Williamson possesses considerable experience handling the entire spectrum of immigration and nationality matters, from employment-based non-immigrant and immigrant, to investor cases, labor certifications and family-based cases. He has represented families and companies in all parts of the United States and over 100 countries, in all aspects of immigration, and has developed particular experience in appellate matters and removal cases.  He is board certified in immigration law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Mr. Williamson handles employment cases including E, H, L, O nonimmigrant cases; labor certifications; visa petitions, consular work; family-based matters such as visa petitions and adjustment of status; consular work; naturalizations; and defense of removal (deportation) cases.

Mr. Williamson is active in the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) (www.aila.org), an association whose membership consists of over 14,000 attorneys who practice in this field of law.  He has served as chair of the Texas chapter of AILA, on the National Board of Governors (1982-present), and on the national executive committee, including service as the national president of AILA.  Mr. Williamson is also a founding member of IMMLAW (www.immlaw.com), a national consortium of immigration law firms whose members practice autonomously, but share their knowledge and expertise and exchange ideas and information in emerging areas so that their clients can benefit from the most innovative, highly sophisticated techniques.  He serves on the examination committee for the Immigration law specialization exam given by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Significant Matters

  • Worked with criminal defense counsel in an employer sanctions prosecution, in which counsel helped convince the federal district court to grant an 88% reduction in the amount of the total fine imposed from that recommended by the United States Attorney and by the federal sentencing guidelines. (January, 2008)
  • Brought successful court challenges to long-delayed naturalization case.

Seminars & Presentations

  • Mr. Williamson frequently speaks on immigration-related topics at university and bar association seminars on topics including ethics, criminal law aspects, employer sanctions, defense of removal, visa petitions and numerous other subjects.  He has appeared as a featured speaker or panelist at numerous seminars throughout Texas, and across the United States as well as Mexico, Canada, the Dominican Republic, England, and Republic of the Philippines.
  • Immigration Law 101: Practical Basis for New Immigration Policies, The Freedom of Information Act, February 15, 2023 

Professional Affiliations

  • Former National President, American Immigration Lawyers Association
  • Member, University of Houston Immigration Law Clinic advisory board
  • Member, College of the State Bar of Texas
  • Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation

News

News

Presentations

Seminars & Presentations

  • Mr. Williamson frequently speaks on immigration-related topics at university and bar association seminars on topics including ethics, criminal law aspects, employer sanctions, defense of removal, visa petitions and numerous other subjects. 
  • He has appeared as a featured speaker or panelist at numerous seminars throughout Texas, and across the United States as well as Mexico, Canada, the Dominican Republic, England, and Republic of the Philippines.

Publications

Blog Posts