Why Teresa Giudice and Her Kids Will Not See Joe Giudice Until 2018

Teresa Giudice‘s husband, Joe Giudice, is currently serving time in prison, but it seems his family wasn’t allowed to visit him on Christmas Day due to a bit of a legal issue.

TMZ reports that the problem has to do with paperwork and stems from Joe’s November transfer from the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix, New Jersey, to a prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.

When Joe was transferred, Teresa reportedly had to submit new visitor forms for her and her children, but the slow speed of the approval process meant that the Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member and her kids weren’t approved by Christmas. They will not be allowed to visit him until the new year.

Teresa and Joe share four daughters, Gia, Gabriella, Milania and Audriana. The reality personality previously told PEOPLE that the family tries to visit Joe as much as they can.

“We see him as much as we can,” Teresa said in October. “Their [extracurricular] activities come first … then work, that’s really important for me, I need to work. So I would say we go see him once every two weeks, once every three weeks. It depends on the schedule.”

Teresa had previously shared an older holiday photo of her family to honor mother, who had since passed after the shot was taken. Joe is also present in the family snap.

“Merry Christmas Mommy,” Teresa wrote.

On the holiday, she posted several photos from her family’s celebration, including a group shot with her daughters, her father, her brother, Joe Gorga, his wife, Melissa Gorga, and their children.

“Merry Christmas from our Family to yours,” Teresa captioned the moment.

Photo Credit: Instagram / @teresagiudice