Where Do K-1 Visa Holders Come From?
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 24.
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