Gherman

MEMORANDUM *

Maria Gherman petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeal’s (“BIA”) affirmance of the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of her applications for asylum and withholding of removal. We grant the petition for review and remand for further proceedings. Because the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of the case, we will not recount it here

An IJ must support an adverse credibility finding with “specific, cogent reasons” that are “substantial and bear a legitimate nexus to the finding.” Alvarez-Santos v. INS, 332 F.3d 1245, 1254 (9th Cir.2003); Salaam v. INS, 229 F.3d 1234, 1238 (9th Cir.2000). Where none of the grounds identified by the IJ is supported by the evidence and goes to the heart of the claims of persecution, we must reject the adverse credibility finding. Kaur v. Ashcroft, 379 F.3d 876, 890 (9th Cir.2004).

The IJ based his finding that Gherman was not credible on three factors. The first two were the IJ’s perception of her testimony as “materially inconsistent, vague, and lacking in detail” with respect to her faith as a Pentecostal, and her story of her arrest, detention, and rape by two policemen. The third was perceived…