The K-1 visa used by Tashfeen Malik to enter the U.S. under scrutiny

United States visa programs are being scrutinized following last week's shooting in San Bernardino, California, and one immigration scholar says the visa issued to one of the shooters is a relatively rare way for a Muslim to enter the U.S.

Tashfeen Malik received a K-1 visa, a type of visa used by individuals who plan to marry U.S. citizens. "In conservative societies, there will be less usage of the K-1 as there is an expectation that the couple need to be married before they live together," Cyrus Mehta, a New York attorney who teaches immigration law, told The Wall Street Journal. In 2014, the U.S. issued 35,925 K-1 visas, with four going to people in Saudi Arabia and 519 to people in Pakistan. Immigration experts also say that as long as people have a clean record at the time of their vetting, it will be impossible to determine if they want to enter the U.S. for nefarious reasons; last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a Republican presidential candidate, said he was "worried" about terrorists arranging marriages with Americans in order to enter the U.S.

In the case of Malik, her husband, fellow shooter Syed Farook, submitted the K-1 visa application, and the Department of Homeland Security vetted Malik against national security and law enforcement databases, WSJ reports. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services unit was charged with making sure the relationship between Malik and Farook was valid, and after the petition was approved, Malik was fingerprinted and Pakistan issued the visa that permitted Malik to come to the United States. On July 27, 2014, Malik was admitted to the U.S. at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, and in August, Malik and Farook were married in Riverside County, California. She filed for legal residency a few weeks later, and background and security checks by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and FBI did not find any negative information. She received a conditional green card on July 23.

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