Is my brother eligible to apply for the citizenship?

[nevil120]

My brother received a green card in December 2018. He applied for a re-entry permit and went abroad to complete his education and came to the US in August 2020. Since then he has been in the US. He has regularly filed income tax returns starting in 2019.

Timeline
December 2018 - Received GreenCard
January 2019 - Went abroad to complete his education (With a re-entry permit)
August 2020 - Came to the US permanently

He has been in the US since August 2020. He has had two foreign trips (total 2 months duration) since August 2020.

Is he eligible to apply for the citizenship?

[newacct]

I'll assume that he will apply for naturalization under the 5-year rule, and not under the 3-year rule as the spouse of a US citizen. So the main issue is the continuous residence requirement. An absence of more than 1 year definitely breaks continuous residence. The earliest he can file for naturalization is either 4 years and 1 day after his return, or 4 years and 6 months after his return. If he can provide sufficiently strong evidence to overcome the presumption of interrupting continuous residence during the last year of his absence, then he can apply for naturalization 4 years and 1 day after his return (so some time in August 2024). If not, he can apply for naturalization 4 years and 6 months after his return (so some time in February 2025).