Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik were killed last week in a gun battle with police after they committed a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. Malik entered the U.S. on a K-1 visa, known as the fiancé visa, accompanied by Farook. Their attack is the first perpetrated by somebody on the K-1 visa - igniting a debate over increasing visa security.
The government issued approximately 262,162 K-1 visas from 2005 to 2013 – 3177 or 1.21 percent of the total to Pakistani citizens.
Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) SECURE Act identifies 34 countries as particularly terror-prone. There were 32,363 K-1 visa, 12.34 percent of the total, issued to citizens from those countries from 2005 to 2013.
The top ten countries for sending fiancés are the Philippines (17.34%), China (6.45%), Vietnam (5.56%), Mexico (4.99%), Colombia (3.77%), Russia (3.14%), Dominican Republic (3.12%), United Kingdom (3.12%), Thailand (2.72%), and Canada (2.67%). Those top ten countries are responsible for 52.77 percent of all K-1 visas issued from 2005 to 2013. Russia is the only country in the top ten that Senator Paul considers a risk. Pakistan is number 23.
K-1 Visa Entrants, Country of Citizenship
|
|
2005-2013 |
|
|
Total |
262,162 |
99.90% |
|
Afghanistan |
1,482 |
0.57% |
|
Albania |
468 |
0.18% |
|
Algeria |
309 |
0.12% |
|
Andorra |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Angola |
14 |
0.01% |
|
Antigua and Barbuda |
22 |
0.01% |
|
Argentina |
886 |
0.34% |
|
Armenia |
789 |
0.30% |
|
Australia |
1,993 |
0.76% |
|
Austria |
152 |
0.06% |
|
Azerbaijan |
152 |
0.06% |
|
Bahamas |
75 |
0.03% |
|
Bahrain |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Bangladesh |
143 |
0.05% |
|
Barbados |
42 |
0.02% |
|
Belarus |
865 |
0.33% |
|
Belgium |
242 |
0.09% |
|
Belize |
89 |
0.03% |
|
Benin |
36 |
0.01% |
|
Bhutan |
4 |
0.00% |
|
Bolivia |
367 |
0.14% |
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
442 |
0.17% |
|
Botswana |
12 |
0.00% |
|
Brazil |
4,590 |
1.75% |
|
Brunei |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Bulgaria |
587 |
0.22% |
|
Burkina Faso |
49 |
0.02% |
|
Burma |
484 |
0.18% |
|
Burundi |
9 |
0.00% |
|
Cambodia |
5,744 |
2.19% |
|
Cameroon |
482 |
0.18% |
|
Canada |
7,004 |
2.67% |
|
Cape Verde |
306 |
0.12% |
|
Central African Republic |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Chad |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Chile |
611 |
0.23% |
|
China |
16,916 |
6.45% |
|
Colombia |
9,880 |
3.77% |
|
Comoros |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Congo (Brazzaville) |
82 |
0.03% |
|
Congo (Kinshasa) |
34 |
0.01% |
|
Costa Rica |
691 |
0.26% |
|
Cote d’Ivoire |
105 |
0.04% |
|
Croatia |
182 |
0.07% |
|
Cuba |
3,324 |
1.27% |
|
Cyprus |
3 |
0.00% |
|
Czech Republic |
232 |
0.09% |
|
Denmark |
225 |
0.09% |
|
Djibouti |
12 |
0.00% |
|
Dominica |
113 |
0.04% |
|
Dominican Republic |
8,171 |
3.12% |
|
East Timor |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Ecuador |
1,383 |
0.53% |
|
Egypt |
1,337 |
0.51% |
|
El Salvador |
1,128 |
0.43% |
|
Equatorial Guinea |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Eritrea |
300 |
0.11% |
|
Estonia |
80 |
0.03% |
|
Ethiopia |
2,791 |
1.06% |
|
Fiji |
94 |
0.04% |
|
Finland |
213 |
0.08% |
|
France |
1,267 |
0.48% |
|
Gabon |
5 |
0.00% |
|
Gambia |
165 |
0.06% |
|
Georgia |
166 |
0.06% |
|
Germany |
2,619 |
1.00% |
|
Ghana |
2,150 |
0.82% |
|
Greece |
156 |
0.06% |
|
Grenada |
49 |
0.02% |
|
Guatemala |
785 |
0.30% |
|
Guinea |
184 |
0.07% |
|
Guinea-Bissau |
4 |
0.00% |
|
Guyana |
667 |
0.25% |
|
Haiti |
4,502 |
1.72% |
|
Holy See |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Honduras |
891 |
0.34% |
|
Hungary |
276 |
0.11% |
|
Iceland |
45 |
0.02% |
|
India |
6,690 |
2.55% |
|
Indonesia |
1,246 |
0.48% |
|
Iran |
3,280 |
1.25% |
|
Iraq |
1,143 |
0.44% |
|
Ireland |
730 |
0.28% |
|
Israel |
451 |
0.17% |
|
Italy |
738 |
0.28% |
|
Jamaica |
2,811 |
1.07% |
|
Japan |
3,630 |
1.38% |
|
Jordan |
673 |
0.26% |
|
Kazakhstan |
405 |
0.15% |
|
Kenya |
652 |
0.25% |
|
Kiribati |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Korea, North |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Korea, South |
2,706 |
1.03% |
|
Kuwait |
16 |
0.01% |
|
Kyrgyzstan |
252 |
0.10% |
|
Laos |
3,204 |
1.22% |
|
Latvia |
177 |
0.07% |
|
Lebanon |
1,288 |
0.49% |
|
Lesotho |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Liberia |
355 |
0.14% |
|
Libya |
122 |
0.05% |
|
Liechtenstein |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Lithuania |
224 |
0.09% |
|
Luxembourg |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Macedonia |
275 |
0.10% |
|
Madagascar |
35 |
0.01% |
|
Malawi |
12 |
0.00% |
|
Malaysia |
447 |
0.17% |
|
Maldives |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Mali |
81 |
0.03% |
|
Malta |
8 |
0.00% |
|
Marshall Islands |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Mauritania |
5 |
0.00% |
|
Mauritius |
15 |
0.01% |
|
Mexico |
13,077 |
4.99% |
|
Micronesia, Federated States of |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Moldova |
473 |
0.18% |
|
Monaco |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Mongolia |
107 |
0.04% |
|
Morocco |
1,798 |
0.69% |
|
Mozambique |
20 |
0.01% |
|
Namibia |
8 |
0.00% |
|
Nauru |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Nepal |
409 |
0.16% |
|
Netherlands |
754 |
0.29% |
|
New Zealand |
506 |
0.19% |
|
Nicaragua |
806 |
0.31% |
|
Niger |
64 |
0.02% |
|
Nigeria |
4,900 |
1.87% |
|
Norway |
234 |
0.09% |
|
Oman |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Pakistan |
3,177 |
1.21% |
|
Palau |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Panama |
430 |
0.16% |
|
Papua New Guinea |
3 |
0.00% |
|
Paraguay |
147 |
0.06% |
|
Peru |
4,017 |
1.53% |
|
Philippines |
45,468 |
17.34% |
|
Poland |
1,368 |
0.52% |
|
Portugal |
176 |
0.07% |
|
Qatar |
3 |
0.00% |
|
Romania |
1,880 |
0.72% |
|
Russia |
8,231 |
3.14% |
|
Rwanda |
63 |
0.02% |
|
Saint Kitts and Nevis |
12 |
0.00% |
|
Saint Lucia |
50 |
0.02% |
|
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
42 |
0.02% |
|
Samoa |
9 |
0.00% |
|
San Marino |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Sao Tome and Principe |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Saudi Arabia |
110 |
0.04% |
|
Senegal |
278 |
0.11% |
|
Serbia and Montenegro |
56 |
0.02% |
|
Seychelles |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Sierra Leone |
567 |
0.22% |
|
Singapore |
263 |
0.10% |
|
Slovakia |
196 |
0.07% |
|
Slovenia |
27 |
0.01% |
|
Solomon Islands |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Somalia |
162 |
0.06% |
|
South Africa |
677 |
0.26% |
|
Spain |
616 |
0.23% |
|
Sri Lanka |
171 |
0.07% |
|
Sudan |
146 |
0.06% |
|
Suriname |
11 |
0.00% |
|
Swaziland |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Sweden |
539 |
0.21% |
|
Switzerland |
223 |
0.09% |
|
Syria |
1,237 |
0.47% |
|
Taiwan |
907 |
0.35% |
|
Tajikistan |
39 |
0.01% |
|
Tanzania |
143 |
0.05% |
|
Thailand |
7,142 |
2.72% |
|
Togo |
152 |
0.06% |
|
Tonga |
64 |
0.02% |
|
Trinidad and Tobago |
383 |
0.15% |
|
Tunisia |
142 |
0.05% |
|
Turkey |
843 |
0.32% |
|
Turkmenistan |
31 |
0.01% |
|
Tuvalu |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Uganda |
292 |
0.11% |
|
Ukraine |
6,940 |
2.65% |
|
United Arab Emirates |
15 |
0.01% |
|
United Kingdom |
7,898 |
3.01% |
|
Uruguay |
128 |
0.05% |
|
Uzbekistan |
502 |
0.19% |
|
Vanuatu |
0 |
0.00% |
|
Venezuela |
998 |
0.38% |
|
Vietnam |
14,565 |
5.56% |
|
Yemen |
76 |
0.03% |
|
Zambia |
57 |
0.02% |
|
Zimbabwe |
66 |
0.03% |
|
Unknown/Other |
5,661 |
2.16% |
Source: Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, Supplemental Table 1