The former IIconics have discussed issues they’re currently facing with work visas.
The IIconics are looking forward to the next chapter of their wrestling careers following their WWE earlier this year, however, their future plans are currently on hold due to work visa issues.
Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee (formerly Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) recently sat down with Renee Young on her ‘Oral Sessions’ podcast to discuss how they currently can’t make any money from their podcast ‘Off Her Chops’ due to them not yet receiving their green cards.
“The difficult thing for us is, we still don’t have our green cards, so we’re not allowed to work until we get those or until we find sponsorship anywhere else. We’re so excited, we have all this freedom and so many ideas, but pump the brakes because we can’t do any of it. The podcast, we’re not making any money off of it, it’s purely to get our name out there and stay relevant. It’s been tough just knowing we have all these things we want to do but can’t do it,” said Lee. “We’re in this holding pattern right now. There’s literally nothing we can do, we’re just waiting. We’ve been in this process for four years, which is basically unheard of. Factors came into it that no one can control, like the pandemic.”
“People are like, ‘what are going to do now?’ Well, nothing, because I can’t legally work in the country and people think that you apply for the green card and it comes in the mail,” said McKay. “This stuff takes years and we’ve been through the ringer with this, getting stuff denied and switching the process because of the pandemic. It keeps backing up, year after year. We’re almost there, but almost there could still be a year away. We just don’t know. People are like, ‘It’ll work itself out, surely your former employer will help.’ No, we’re in this together, just us doing it by ourselves. It’s been stressful and now an added stress after getting released. We were like, ‘Do we have to leave the country?’ We had no idea how it works. Thankfully, we can stay here, but that added stress is a lot. We hope it’s going to work itself out in the next six to twelve months.”
The former IIconics’ recently filed to trademark ‘IInspiration’, which could potentially be their team name outside of WWE. They’ll be able to wrestle again after July 14, which is when their 90-day non-compete clauses expire. You can read more on this by clicking here.
Special thanks to Fightful for the transcription.
