Nune Shkhyan v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

After entering the United States on a tourist visa, Nune Aghasi Shkhyan applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention against Torture (“CAT”). An Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denied all requested relief; the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirmed per curiam. We grant Shkhyan’s petition for review and remand for further proceedings.

1. Shkhyan, an Armenian scientist, refused to work on a project in Siberia because she feared it would benefit the Russian military. State security officials then interrogated her on three occasions, once detaining her for two nights and slapping her face. After her release from the last detention, Shkhyan obtained a B-2 tourist visa and entered the United States. In these removal proceedings, she conceded removability but sought asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief.

2. An IJ found Shkhyan’s testimony about her experiences after refusing to work on the Siberian project generally credible, but did not credit her claim that her husband was beaten by state security officers after she left Armenia because of the absence of a corroborating statement from her husband. Although an IJ may require such…