Eligibility for citizenship application

[Newyork121]

Hello,
I have a question about eligibly for a citizenship application for one of my relatives

Here is the summary of their stay in US
2019 July - First entry
2020 Jan - went back to home country
2020 Dec - Came back - Outside US for almost 11 months
2021 Dec - went back to home country
2021 May - Came back and staying here after that

So they have around 3 and half year of the stay in US however they went outside of the country for more than 6 months during COVID.

Since they are out side of country more than 6 months, are they eligible for the application sometime June or July of this year?

Thanks in advanced.

[newacct]

When you said "first entry", you mean they entered as a permanent resident, right? e.g. they entered on an immigrant visa.

An absence of between 6 months and 1 year is presumed to interrupt continuous residence for naturalization, but this presumption can be overcome with strong evidence.

If they are able to overcome the presumption, their continuous residence was never interrupted, so they can apply 90 days before being a permanent resident for 5 years, i.e. some time in April 2024.

If they are unable to overcome the presumption, they have to wait until 4 years and 6 months after their return from that absence, before they can apply for naturalization, i.e. some time in June 2025.

See USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 12, Part D, Chapter 3, section C-1 for more details.

[Newyork121]

Thank you for your response. Appreciate it. We do have a strong reason the COVID outbreak .