The Vetting Process: How the San Bernadino Shooter Entered the U.S. Legally

Dallas, Texas, January 14, 2016 (Newswire.com) - The K-1 "Fiancee" visa - and the related vetting process - has become quite controversial due to its connections to the San Bernadino shootings. Platinum Immigration Services seeks to show, through a thorough explanation of the fiancee visa vetting process and its history, that it becomes easier to understand how one of the individuals responsible for the shooting was able to enter the country.

Those who apply for the K-1 visa undergo a similar vetting process to any other individual attempting to immigrate to the United States. Though the visa does allow a person to become a lawful permanent resident after marrying a citizen, the vetting process is similar to that of any individual applying for an immigrant visa.

Platinum Immigration Services seeks to show, through a thorough explanation of the fiancee visa vetting process and its history, that it becomes easier to understand how one of the individuals responsible for the shooting was able to enter the country.

Mike Corbett, Platinum Immigration Services

The company goes on to point out that the vetting requirements are quite slim for these visas. One must submit a police report and answer a form - the remainder of the responsibility for vetting the potential immigrants falls on USCIS. USCIS does have database access to determine if potential immigrants are on watch lists or have criminal histories, but there is little to no data on the vast majority of individuals who apply for the visa. As such, the name checks run by the organization are of little to no use in most cases.

There are, as the service notes, more thorough background checks for those individuals who immigrate from certain high-risk countries. These more thorough checks often involve interviews with families and friends, as well as an investigative process that can take up to a year. However, these methods are generally only used with male immigrants - the higher-level security checks are rarely, if ever, conducted on females such as the woman who was involved in the San Bernadino shooting.

It is also noted that the vetting process as it currently stands has little to do with changes implemented by President Obama or under Secretary Clinton. The regulations on the books are essentially the same as those put into place after 9/11, and any changes made during the last eight years are virtually undetectable to a trained immigration worker. Indeed, the service states that there are no noticeable changes to the procedures that were put into place to strengthen the immigration checks in the last eight years.

The service notes that best way to figure out how - and indeed, if - the background checks failed is to take a look at the date on which the immigration interviews were conducted. If the interviews were conducted shortly before her visa was issued, one can assume a failure on the part of the authorities. Without that data, the firm suggests, it is difficult to understand what might have gone wrong with the visa process.