Thaung

MEMORANDUM *

Maung Win Thaung, a citizen and native of Burma, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) summary affirmance of the immigration judge’s (IJ) denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, relief un *863 der the Convention Against Torture and voluntary departure. We grant the petition for review. Because the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we will not recount it here.

When the BIA affirms without opinion, the IJ’s decision becomes the final agency action. Lopez-Alvarado v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 1111, 1114 (9th Cir.2004). The IJ found Thaung not credible, and, therefore, ineligible for relief under the Immigration and Nationality Act for giving false testimony in order to obtain an immigration benefit. Although credibility findings are entitled to deference, Alvarez-Santos v. INS, 332 F.3d 1245, 1254 (9th Cir.2003), where, as here, the IJ offers specific reasons for finding the applicant not credible, we “may evaluate those reasons to determine whether they are valid grounds upon which to base a finding that the applicant is not credible.” Mendoza Manimbao v. Ashcroft, 329 F.3d 655, 658…