Mangasaryan

MEMORANDUM *

Robert Mangasaryan, a citizen of Armenia, seeks review of the final order of removal issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) • denying his applications for asylum and withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and for relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). We grant in part and deny in part the petition for review, and remand to the BIA.

The BIA affirmed the immigration judge’s (IJ) adverse credibility determination based only on the lack of consistent testimony as to the dates that the three alleged incidents of persecution occurred. However, neither the BIA nor the IJ addressed Mangasaryan’s explanation for the discrepancy in dates. “Because an adverse credibility finding is improper when [the BIA] fails to address a petitioner’s explanation for a discrepancy or inconsistency, this testimony does not provide substantial evidence to support an adverse credibility determination.” Singh v. Gonzales, 439 F.3d 1100, 1106 (9th Cir.2006) (internal quotation marks omitted).

The BIA agreed with all of the IJ’s analysis that, even if credible, Mangasar-yan had failed to demonstrate a nexus between any of the alleged incidents…