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In order to obtain a fiancée visa, it is required to demonstrate proof that the US citizen and foreign national have met in person. However, (the) immigration file of (the shooter's spouse) does not show sufficient evidence for this requirement — Congressman Bob Goodlatte
United States immigration officials failed to obtain required proof from San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik that she had met her US citizen fiancé in person, but granted her a spousal visa anyway, a Republican congressman said on Saturday.
The new questions over the granting of the visa to Malik, raised by Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, suggest she was the beneficiary of a lapsed government vetting process now under intense scrutiny after the December 2 attack that killed 14 people at a holiday party in the Southern California city.
"In order to obtain a fiancée visa, it is required to demonstrate proof that the US citizen and foreign national have met in person. However, Malik's immigration file does not show sufficient evidence for this requirement," Goodlatte said in a statement.
Investigators say US-born Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Malik, 29, became radicalized long before the shooting. They are believed to have been inspired by militant group Islamic State.
READ: ISIS praises US couple who massacred 27 in California
Goodlatte said his office conducted an investigation of how Malik obtained her spousal, or K-1, visa. They found that the official who reviewed Malik's application asked for more evidence that she had met her fiancé but it was never provided.
The Department of Homeland Security and for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond on Saturday to requests for comment.
US officials previously said that US authorities in Pakistan, Malik's home country, did not seek a full background security investigation on her because routine checks did not raise suspicions.
READ: Why did California shooting couple become killers? FBI widens probe to Pakistan
Well before he married Malik in August 2014, Farook had plotted mass casualty attacks with his friend and neighbor, Enrique Marquez, according to FBI interviews with Marquez, 24, who was arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
READ: Pak gagging press probing California shooter's background
Goodlatte said that Farook stated he had been together with Malik in Saudi Arabia, and supplied copies of passport pages with visas to enter Saudi Arabia. But, Goodlatte said, the passport stamps were never translated from Arabic to determine the dates on the visas.
Goodlatte said Malik entered Saudi Arabia approximately June 4, 2013, with a 60-day visa, though her exit date stamp is illegible. Farook's passport shows he was in Saudi Arabia Oct. 1-20 that same year.
"Even if Farook and Malik were in Saudi Arabia at the same time, this does not provide evidence that they met in person," said Goodlatte.
