Recently, our office successfully petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to vacate the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) which had affirmed the denial of our client’s asylum case.

Our client’s case was denied by an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) based on an adverse credibility determination. The BIA affirmed this holding. However, the Second Circuit agreed with our arguments that the adverse credibility determination was incorrect.

The Second Circuit relied on two recent decisions which demonstrate the error of the BIA’s decision. The first, Hong Fei Gao v. Sessions, 891 F.3d 22 67, 76 (2d Cir. 2018), emphasized that IJs should “distinguish between (1) omissions that arise merely because an applicant’s oral testimony is more detailed than his or her written application, and (2) omissions that tend to show that an applicant has fabricated his or her claim.” 891 F.3d at 82.

The second decision is Gurung v. Barr, 9 929 F.3d 56, 60 (2d Cir. 2019) which held that “trivial differences in the wording of statements describing the same event are not sufficient to create 4 inconsistencies.” 929 F.3d at 61.

During his final merits hearing, our client provided additional details regarding a physical attack that he previously described in a written statement. As the Second Circuit held, the additional details were “supplementary, not contradictory.” They held the same for other parts of our client’s testimony where he provided supplementary details that did not contradict his other statements.

In light of Hong Fei Gao and Gurung, the Second Circuit determined that the BIA erroneously affirmed the IJ’s decision. The circuit court granted our motion and remanded the case for further proceedings. Our client will now have another opportunity to seek asylum.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen Courts of Appeals. It is located in New York City and its territory involves New York, Connecticut and Vermont.

We will continue to represent him as his case goes forward. As we continue to fight for our client, we are hopeful that the decision of the Second Circuit will guide the BIA and the IJ toward a grant of asylum.

Bhatta Law & Associates is a full-service law firm with extensive experience in immigration law, including asylum and removal proceedings. The law firm also advises clients on a wide range of corporate and IP matters.