Opinion ID: 2998614
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: “Unreliable” Documentary Submissions

Text: Finally, Shtaro contends that the IJ inappropriately discredited her testimony because he suspected that her documents were fraudulent. He specifically found that she falsified the police report purporting to certify that she was “arrested” on March 2 and the copies of her employment contracts, and impugned the rest of her documents generally because she did not authenticate them in the manner described in 8 C.F.R. § 287.6. The IJ also inferred that because she used fraudulent documents to enter the United States and did not seek asylum for approximately a year, her “documentation and claim may . . . be fraudulent.” We agree with Shtaro that none of these considerations is an adequate basis for an adverse credibility determination. If there was legitimate reason to think that Shtaro submitted fraudulent documents, the IJ would have been entitled to disbelieve her. See Hysi, 411 F.3d at 852-53; Kourski v. Ashcroft, 355 F.3d 1038, 1040 (7th Cir. 2004). But his skepticism concerning the police report and the employment contracts is not supported by substantial evidence. The IJ did not explain why he doubted that the police would be willing to “issue a letter at the respondent’s request” if her story was true. And we cannot see why he thought Shtaro’s voluntary admission that she signed the copies of her employment contracts upon receiving them in the United States “undercut the reliability of her other evidence.” No. 04-4201 9 Nor can we uphold the IJ’s decision upon his grounds for impeaching the authenticity of her documents generally. The IJ points out that Shtaro did not authenticate her documents in the manner specified in 8 C.F.R. § 287.6. But failure to so authenticate does not amount to presumptive proof of falsity. See Leia v. Ashcroft, 393 F.3d 427, 434 (3d Cir. 2005); Shire v. Ashcroft, 388 F.3d 1288, 1299 (9th Cir. 2004); Georgis v. Ashcroft, 328 F.3d 962, 969 (7th Cir. 2003). We have also rejected the idea that an alien may be found incredible simply because she used a false passport, see Dong, 421 F.3d at 578-79; see also Yongo v. INS, 355 F.3d 27, 33 (1st Cir. 2004). And even if we were satisfied that Shtaro’s delay in applying for asylum was probative with respect to her claims, see Dong, 421 F.3d at 579, it would not be sufficient in itself to support the adverse credibility finding. See Georgis, 328 F.3d at 970 (remanding where only one out of six reasons given by IJ for denying petition was supported by substantial evidence). Bearing in mind that a credibility analysis requires only that the petitioner’s claim be internally consistent, detailed, and plausible, see Capric v. Ashcroft, 355 F.3d 1075, 1085 (7th Cir. 2004), we conclude that the IJ’s adverse credibility determination is not supported by substantial evidence. “A credibility analysis should not be confused with a burden of proof analysis, which considers and weighs all the surrounding evidence.” Id.