LOS ANGELES, Dec 20: Two young Pakistanis charged with visa fraud were granted bail on Monday and could be released, but bail hearing for a third man with them was postponed until Thursday.

US Magistrate Judge Stephen Hillman allowed Ahmed Atta, 19, to be released to a family friend on a US$50,000 bond with home confinement. Atta previously stayed with Robyn Sheik, a nurse from Anaheim, who has known Atta for two years, Atta’s public defender said.

Atta’s roommate, Salman Hyder, also 19, will be released on a $100,000 bond posted by his aunt in Michigan and his uncle in Virginia.

The judge ordered Hyder not to stay with Sheik or in his Fountain Valley apartment, but left it up to pretrial services to find an appropriate living arrangement.

The Irvine Valley College students, who were raised in Saudi Arabia, had been in custody since Oct 8.

Their friend, Soloman Hamid Khan, 27, will have an attorney appointed and has a bail hearing on Thursday.

All three are due back in court on Dec 27 for a preliminary hearing and Dec 31 for arraignment.