Morales

MEMORANDUM **

Oscar Carlos Ramos Morales (Oscar), his wife, Maria Victoria Cazares Padilla (Maria), and their daughter, Ileana Ramos Cazares (Ileana), natives and citizens of Mexico, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA’s”) decision denying relief upon their motion to reopen. They argue that the adverse credibility determination was not supported by legally sufficient reasons.

Because the BIA discussed the adverse credibility determination and deferred to the IJ’s holding, we review both the BIA and IJ decisions. Kataria v. INS, 232 F.3d 1107, 1112 (9th Cir.2000). We find that none of the justifications given by either the BIA or the IJ is legally relevant to an adverse credibility determination.

The BIA held that the fact that Maria: testified that her husband had applied for asylum in Canada on different grounds than those on which he relied in the United States application was a sufficient basis for an adverse credibility determination. An inconsistency cannot provide the basis for an adverse credibility determination unless the petitioner is notified of its alleged existence and asked to explain it. Guo v. Ashcroft, 361 F.3d 1194, 1200 (9th…