Singh

MEMORANDUM ***

Petitioner Angrej Singh, a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“the Board”) affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of Petitioner’s application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the United Nation’s Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Where, as here, the Board summarily affirms the IJ’s decision without opinion, we review the IJ’s decision as the agency decision. See Lanza v. Ashcroft, 389 F.3d 917, 925 (9th Cir.2004). Reviewing the IJ’s decision for substantial evidence, Singh v. Gonzales, 439 F.3d 1100, 1105 (9th Cir.2006), we grant the petition and remand the case for the agency to make proper findings of fact, divorced from the improper considerations discussed herein.

The IJ made an adverse credibility determination against Petitioner and denied relief on the merits based, in predominant part, on that determination. The IJ noted “grave concerns” about Petitioner’s marriage of convenience. The IJ failed, however, to differentiate between the type of permissible false statement made here to obtain immigration benefits; and those that are made to establish a critical…