Orujyan

MEMORANDUM **

Robert Orujyan, a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the decision by an Immigration Judge (“IJ”), affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) without opinion, denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. 1 We grant the petition.

1. We review Orujyan’s adverse credibility argument under the substantial evidence standard. Rivera v. Mukasey, 508 F.3d 1271, 1274 (9th Cir.2007). The IJ primarily based her adverse credibility finding on her determination that several inconsistencies existed between Orujyan’s testimony before the IJ and his asylum application and written declaration submitted with his application. We find that the inconsistencies do not provide substantial evidence to support an adverse credibility determination, because the discrepancies were most likely due to problems Orujyan had with his translator in creating both his asylum application and declaration. Furthermore, Orujyan’s attorney admittedly did not review the application (written in English) with Orujyan in the Armenian language prior to Orujyan’s hearing before the IJ. The IJ unfortunately never considered or addressed these reasons for the…