Kansi was an ethnic Pashtun[3] born on either 10 February or October 22 1964 or 1 January 1967 in Quetta, Pakistan.[4][5] He entered the United States in 1991 under the name Mir Aimal Kansi and brought a substantial sum of cash he had inherited in 1989 on the death of his father. He traveled on forged papers that he had purchased in Karachi, Pakistan. He had altered his name to "Kansi" and later bought a fake US green card in Miami, Florida.[6]