Can expired I-797 petition can be used when filing for a fresh H1?

[prasan_tce]

Hi
My wife has a valid H1 Petition approved and also get the stamping in the year 2010.
But she never travelled to US.

Petition got expired in August 2010.

Then she came to US on H4.

This year ,we are trying to file a fresh H1 under the 2013 cap

Is there any way,the expired I-797 petition will help her not to be considered within the 65000 CAP?

Please someone help on this.

Thanks,
Prasanna

[kabkaba]

Yes, she can provide the new employer with a copy of the previous approval notice and they can file a cap-exempt petition for her, requesting immediate start date. Only the time she actually spends in US in H1 or L1 status will count towards the 6 year limit.