Singh

MEMORANDUM **

Joginder Singh, a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) dismissal of his appeal from the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . Reviewing for substantial evidence, Gui v. INS, 280 F.3d 1217, 1225 (9th Cir.2002), we grant the petition for review and remand.

The IJ’s adverse credibility determination was not supported by substantial evidence. Any inconsistencies regarding Singh’s brothers’ departures from India did not go to the heart of Singh’s claim of persecution and therefore cannot support an adverse credibility finding. See Mendoza Manimbao v. Ashcroft, 329 F.3d 655, 660 (9th Cir.2003). Additionally, the IJ did not explain how the two years Singh spent in Uttar Pradesh and his subsequent arrest and return to Punjab were significant to his credibility. See Bandari v. INS, 227 F.3d 1160, 1166 (9th Cir.2000) (adverse credibility finding will not be upheld unless IJ or BIA explains significance of discrepancy or points to petitioner’s obvious evasiveness when asked…