Su Hwa She v. Holder

Petitioner Su Hwa She (“Petitioner” or “She”) seeks review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing her appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (“U’s”) denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Upon due consideration, we grant the petition for review in part, deny it in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I

Su Hwa She was born in Burma, where she and other members of her family were allegedly persecuted by ethnic Burmese officials from the mid-1960s until 1981, when she traveled to Hong Kong. She entered Taiwan shortly thereafter, at the age of thirty-seven. She stayed with a family friend there and her name was put on a household register that was used to help her obtain a Taiwanese passport. (Br. at 6.) She remained in Taiwan for some eighteen months, ultimately gaining recognition as a citizen of the Republic of China (i.e., Taiwan). On May 28, 1983, She entered the United States on a visitor’s visa with a 1985 expiration date. A.R. 78. She overstayed her visa and, several years after entering the United States, filed an asylum petition…