Singh
Singh v. Immigration & Naturalization Service
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM ***
Mandeep Singh (“Singh”), a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal of the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his requests for asylum and withholding of deportation. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a). Review of a determination that an applicant has not established eligibility for asylum is for substantial evidence. See Singh v. INS, 134 F.3d 962, 966 (9th Cir.1998).
Although treating Singh’s testimony as credible and giving it full evidentiary weight, the IJ denied Singh’s petition on the basis that he failed to provide any corroborating documents or demonstrate that his fear of persecution was tied to any of the enumerated statutory grounds. The BIA, affirming the IJ, found that Singh did not present sufficient evidence to substantiate his claim of persecution. We determine (1) that the BIA erred in requiring corroborating evidence in the absence of an adverse credibility determination, and (2) that it lacked substantial evidence for concluding that Singh was not persecuted or lacked a well-founded fear of persecution on account of his political beliefs.