CA2 on India, Asylum, Timeliness, Credibility, Relocation: Singh v. Sessions (unpub.)

Singh v. Sessions, Apr. 14, 2017 (unpub.)- "[T]he agency required Singh to definitively establish his arrival date, and ignored evidence that Singh lived in India during the year preceding his filing, which was material to whether he filed his application within one year of his arrival in the United States. Accordingly, the agency erred as a matter of law by applying an incorrect burden and ignoring material evidence as to the timeliness of Singh’s application and remand is required. ... Without an adequate basis for questioning Singh’s credibility, the agency was not permitted to rely solely on a failure to corroborate to find him not credible. ... Because we cannot confidently predict that the agency would have made the same decision absent the identified errors, remand is required. ... Finally, we note that insofar as the BIA affirmed the IJ’s alternative finding that Singh could relocate within India to avoid persecution, that finding was erroneous because the IJ improperly placed the burden of proof on Singh when his alleged persecutor was the Indian government."

[Hats off to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun!]