American Phil Nicoletti has revealed that he been banned from Australia for three years following a series of Visa difficulties in 2011.

The New York native rode for Monster Energy Kawasaki during the MX Nationals last season and finished third in the Pro Lites series, however he has revealed that it was immigration that ruled him out of a return this season.

“I was supposed to go back to Australia and ride over there, but I had some major complications with my Visa getting messed up, which caused me to be banned there for three years,” Nicoletti told Racer X Online in this week’s Privateer Profile. “It left me with zero opportunity for this year.”

Now back in the U.S. and coming off a solid fifth place finish during the first round of the East Coast Lites AMA Supercross series, Nicoletti explained that it was a miscommunication that caused the initial difficulties.

“Kawasaki of Australia sent in my Visa and somehow when they sent it in to immigration in Australia it never got processed,” he said. “So basically, the whole time I was over there, I was staying there illegally and not knowing it.

“I was able to go over there for the first 90 days on a touring Visa, which was going to be fixed, but somehow it got screwed up and didn’t get processed. When I went to fly back from Brisbane to LA, they stopped me at immigration and they were giving me a hard time and saying that I was staying there illegally.

“It’s not what I wanted, and it was so late here, to get a ride. All the teams were already filled up.”

Nicoletti is riding for the Eleven-10 Mods team aboard a Honda in the East Coast Lites series for this season.