For five years, Scott McMahon languished in an overcrowded jail in the Philippines, awaiting trial for a crime he swore he did not commit.

This month, a court in Manila agreed with him, acquitting the Seattle man of two rape charges. The court also questioned the credibility of the accuser, citing discrepancies in her statements.

Still, McMahon is not completely in the clear.

The father of three has not been allowed to leave the Philippines, and concerns are mounting that he could be rearrested at any time because of a $3,000 fine the country's Bureau of Immigration wants him to pay for his expired visa.

McMahon would not have owed that money had he not been incarcerated since 2011, according to a U.S. organization that helps people facing legal problems abroad.

McMahon's visa expired in 2013 while he was in jail; the Bureau of Immigration is charging him $1,000 for every year that his visa was not renewed, Eric Volz, managing director of the David House Agency, told The Washington Post. The organization has been providing services to McMahon at no charge.

Volz, who has been communicating with McMahon's family and attorney in the Philippines, said McMahon has the option to appeal the fine. If that succeeds, he will not have to pay.

That process, however, is lengthy. So McMahon's family is choosing the faster option: paying the money.

To do that, though, McMahon has to submit an affidavit explaining why the visa expired in the first place, Volz said. The review process for that could take up to three weeks. After he beat rape charges abroad, an American could land in jail again over an expired visa