Minasyan

FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Minasyan was admitted to the United States as a non- immigrant visitor for pleasure on April 9, 2001, with authori- zation to remain in the country until October 8, 2001. Minasyan overstayed his visa and, on April 9, 2002, filed an application for asylum, alleging that he was persecuted by Armenian officials on account of his political opinion.1 Spe- cifically, Minasyan claimed to have been beaten on several occasions for speaking out against government corruption. As Minasyan described one of the incidents, he was kidnapped by two men in military uniforms, held in a basement for two days, and repeatedly struck in his face and kidneys. He remained in bed for almost a month, lost his job, and decided to visit relatives in the United States to “come out of the shock and nightmare [he] was in.” After hearing that men in military uniform continued to come to his house after he left Armenia and kidnapped his wife, he decided to apply for asy- lum.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service2 (“INS”) 1 Minasyan’s asylum application was deemed “filed” on April 9, 2002, by virtue of the agency’s “mailbox rule,” which provides that “[i]n a case in which the…