The Ninth Circuit has affirmed its prior case law that an applicant for asylum must be given notice of corroborating evidence required by the Immigration Judge and provided the opportunity to provide that evidence or explain its absence. In the instant case, the Government questioned the applicant why his brother did not testify to corroborate his story. The court closed the evidentiary record at the end of the hearing, without providing the applicant with the opportunity to present his brother's testimony once he was notified that it was required. Similarly, the judge determined that the corroborating documents submitted were insufficiently specific, but did not provide the applicant with the opportunity to present letters with more specific details. The court remanded the case.
The full text of Bhattarai v. Lynch can be found here:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2016/08/30/12-74062.pdf