Salazar-Manzano

MEMORANDUM ***

Sergio Salazar-Manzano, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) adopting and affirming the decision of an immigration judge (“IJ”) denying his motion to reopen proceedings in which he was ordered deported in absentia. Because the transitional rules apply, we have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a). See Socop-Gonzalez v. INS, 272 F.3d 1176, 1183 (9th Cir.2001) (en banc). We review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to reopen, Chete Juarez v. Ashcroft, 376 F.3d 944, 947 (9th Cir.2004), and we grant the petition for review.

Salazar-Manzano’s motion to reopen was based on his former counsel’s alleged failure to file a change-of-address form for him with the BIA and the Immigration Court, or to notify him that the BIA had remanded his application for a waiver of deportation. The BIA abused its discretion in failing to credit the version of events outlined in Salazar-Manzano’s declaration. See Monjaraz-Munoz v. INS, 327 F.3d 892, 896-98 (9th Cir.), as amended on reh’g, 339 F.3d 1012 (9th Cir.2003); Celis-Castellano v. Ashcroft, 298 F.3d 888, 892 (9th Cir.2002) (“[T]he Board must accept…