Security and the K 1 Visa

Family members comfort each other. Photo by Associated Press

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Charlotte, North Carolina- House Republican leaders announced a new legislative proposal aimed at boosting national security by changing the nation's visa waiver program.

They said the bill would get a vote by next week. A counterterrorism task force headed by the Republican committee chairman announced the bill on Thursday, and predicted it would pass with an overwhelming and bipartisan vote. 

The bill came on the heels of the carnage at St. Bernardino, California a week ago resulting to the death of 14 people and wounding 21 others. 

It is the first suspected terrorist attack in US soil after the infamous 9-11 and it kept me thinking about it for days as it  involved the fiancée visa or K 1 Visa.  I was reminded of my coming here in the US under the fiancée visa and because of what happened I recalled the process in my brain. 

I came to the US five years and six months ago under the fiancée visa. A fiancée visa is a visa issued to the prospective wife/husband of an American citizen.  

It is valid for 90 days after which the petitioned would return to the country of origin if marriage is not consummated. It is said to be the easiest visa obtained. 

The news media had a grand time talking about the fiancée visa that I was reminded of what happened to me inside the US Embassy and my observation of the system. 

The US K1 visa is not broken. There is no need to fix it despite what happened in San Bernardino but there is a part on the process overlooked by the US government. 

Tashfeen Malik, now the most popular Muslim woman of modern times came to the US on a fiancée visa which I supposed was issued in Pakistan, her country of birth. 

Tashfeen was one of the suspects in the San Bernardino carnage and is believed to have influenced Syed Rizwan Farook, the husband who was born and raised in the US. Many are of the opinion that Tashfeen radicalized Syed into committing the evil deed they did a week ago. 

But why did the US embassy failed to learn that Tashfeen had been to countries suspected of being inhabited by terrorists or those engaged in the radicalization of Islam?

My take is that in every US embassy there are local employees and it was the local employees who interviewed, processed the papers and eventually recommending that it reach the US consul. 

In my case during my interview, the first two sets of interview were done by Filipinos who were employed by the US embassy. These local employees look at the papers like birth certificate, affidavits, other papers, passports. 

Those Filipinos who worked with the US embassy worked religiously scrutinizing any mistakes in spelling, dates and they would be happy to see any discrepancies on documents presented.  

And it is when everything is okay with the papers that the applicant is told to proceed to the US consul. Reaching the consul is no longer a problem. The ambiance is more relaxed just like on my case.  

I can remember how strict the Filipino embassy employee was when she  interviewed me. She was so arrogant and asked vicious questions. That time I told myself, what kind of employees are these? 

Well now, I can think Filipinos employed at the embassy were doing their job by protecting US interests. Was it the same with the local employes at the US embassy in Pakistan who approved Tashfeen’s papers?

Why these local employees failed to detect the places traveled by the petitioned when it can be seen in the passport or during the interviews? This I ask on the assumption that there are local employees in the embassy. 

In Tashfeen’s case, did the local employees of the embassy commit lapses and failed to see her connection to ISIS or Al Qaeda?  These are among the questions to be asked. 

I see that in the next few days those who coming to the US through the K 1 Visa would have a hard time entering the country and the American citizens would be frustrated with the system. 

Personally I see no reason that time and resources would be spent discussing and finding loopholes in the K 1 visa. It is just simple- ISIS and Al Qaeda have partners and in this case partners within the system.  

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as a sub-teacher and a part-time teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.
Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her email susanap.dennis@yahoo.com as well as her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)