Almost there! 90 Day Fiancé stars Jon Walters and Rachel Walters shared a major update in their spousal visa journey amid their long-distance marriage.

“You guys know that we filed for the visa three years ago and we had upwards of three years to wait for an interview,” Rachel said during an Instagram Live with husband Jon on Sunday, August 22. “So, as of May 5 of this year, Jon did get his interview and as we knew would happen, let me emphasize that — we knew this was going to happen — his initial application for a visa was denied because on black and white, it looks bad. It looks bad on paper.”

Jon then took over to explain what happened when he went to his visa interview at the embassy. “Basically, it is like this. I have a criminal conviction. Now, when I went to the embassy, I took a load of paperwork, I took everything I thought I would need and I thought I would have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness. However, the lovely guy who was working at the embassy said, ‘Unfortunately, I don’t have the authority to give a visa to anyone with a criminal conviction,” the England native explained. He was told that he would be able to apply for a waiver in another department, where he’d be able to ask for forgiveness and they would look at the application there.

“So basically, it was a hard no from the embassy but it’s not a hard no as far as our application cause they never saw our application, he didn’t look at the details, didn’t look at anything,” Jon continued. “So at that point, we had already saved and paid the lawyer and prepared our waiver application. So as soon as they said no, then we started the ball rolling on our waiver.”

Rachel further stressed that the couple, who made their debut on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days season 2, knew Jon would get denied a visa in the interview process. “We prepaid our lawyer for the waiver knowing that we would have to file the waiver. The waiver is basically not just asking for forgiveness, but asking for the initial denial to get gone because he’s not that person, like explain our story,” she said.

The Albuquerque, New Mexico resident said it took her a few months to gather all of the information and paperwork they would need for Jon’s waiver. “As of last week, we officially filed for this waiver,” she announced.

“So, as of now, we definitely have the final stretch between now and six to nine months,” Jon added. Rachel also explained that she was told it would take about two to four weeks for them to get a confirmation that their visa waiver was received but she had already gotten the letter of receipt, which meant the process was a little faster than the 90 Day Fiancé: What Now? season 4 stars had expected already so far.

She also revealed that their waiver application for Jon’s spousal visa, which would allow him to immigrate to the U.S. as the husband of an American citizen, was 200 pages long and cost the couple $930 alone in filing fees, not to mention their legal fees. Jon went on to explain that there isn’t anything left for them to do but just wait for a yes or a no. In their waiver application, the couple made a compelling case for the U.S. government officials that their marriage is legit and they deserve to be together as a family. Jon and Rachel have not seen each other since January 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

90 day fiance christmas jon rachel
Courtesy of Rachel Walters/Instagram

“We’re hoping somebody is gonna have a kind heart and they’re just gonna look at our application and be like, ‘Jon’s a good guy. He messed up when he was younger. He loves his family,’” Jon said. “I hope they’re gonna give me a chance.”

When a fan asked if their lawyer thinks they have a good chance of getting their waiver approved, Jon explained that while the United States has a law that prohibits giving visas to people who have committed crimes of a “moral turpitude,” his case is different.

“I was never actually sent to prison. I was given a conditional discharge. My actual offense on paper doesn’t illustrate what actually happened and it was one punch. I wasn’t in a gang, it wasn’t a crime, I didn’t beat people up,” Jon said. “It’s just something that happened and the U.S. is very good at forgiving people, they expunge crimes, punishments all the time. And I think that if someone looked at what happened and what my punishment was, they’re going to see that it’s not even a big deal. So that’s what we’re hoping for.”

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