Hassan

MEMORANDUM **

Petitioner Faduma M. Hassan (“Hassan”) appeals the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA’s”) denial of her application for asylum. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We reverse the BIA’s final order of removal and grant Hassan’s petition for asylum.

Because the facts are known to the parties we do not repeat them here.

We review the BIA’s findings for substantial evidence. See Andriasian v. INS, 180 F.3d 1033, 1040 (9th Cir.1999). The BIA’s decision must be upheld unless the evidence would compel a reasonable adjudicator to reach a contrary result. 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (b)(4)(B). “Where, as here, the BIA reviews the IJ’s decision de novo, our review is limited to the BIA’s decision, except to the extent that the IJ’s opinion is expressly adopted.” Shah v. INS, 220 F.3d 1062, 1067 (9th Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks omitted).

The BIA upheld the order of removal in part because it found that the IJ’s negative credibility determination was supported by substantial evidence. We disagree. Under the substantial evidence standard, the IJ “must have a legitimate articulable basis to question the petitioner’s credibility, and must offer a specific, cogent reason…