WASHINGTON: The couple who killed 14 people in a mass shooting in California are US citizen of Pakistani origin Syed Farook...
WASHINGTON: The couple who killed 14 people in a mass shooting in California are US citizen of Pakistani origin Syed Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, who came to the United States last year on a fiancee visa.
Of the 61 million temporary visitors to the United States in 2013, about 26,000 arrived in the United States on a K1, or fiance, visa including just 272 Pakistani nationals, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Farook, who was born in the US, and Malik traveled to the United States in July 2014, Farook with his US passport and Malik with her K1 visa inside her Pakistani passport, said the assistant FBI director in charge of the Los Angeles office, David Bowdich.
The visa allows foreigners to come to the United States to marry the person with whom they are engaged.
The wedding must take place within 90 days of their arrival, which appears to have been the case for Farook and Malik.
Farook applied for a green card permanent residency for his wife in September 2014, according to The New York Times.
In order to obtain a fiance visa, applicants must usually prove the relationship has lasted at least two years.
The foreigner must namely provide police certificates from all the countries where he or she has lived for more than six months since the age of 16.
For Malik, that would have included Saudi Arabia, where she had lived.