April 1, 2017 will be here before you know it. That’s the date when the annual H1-B quota becomes available and employers nationwide compete for the coveted 3-year work authorizations which will be effective October 1, 2017. If you want to seek H-1B “professional” work authorization for foreign recruits during 2017, now is the time to get your preliminary Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Then, you will want to begin preparing your Form I-129s, “Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker,” for each professional, so the Forms will be ready to submit to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on March 31, 2017. Colleges, universities, and research institutions are the only employers exempt from the limited annual quota, so they need not be concerned about the timing of filing an H-1B petition.