After going through the whole 5 years of uncertainty and not knowing what's what, I'm here to share that my case has been finally resolved. Here's my timeline:
September 2018 - I-360 and I-485 filed.
Between January 2021 - November 2022 - 9 congressional inquiries in my case. Every inquiry returns "case is going through a background check".
*Important note: back in 2021 the processing time for I-360 was around 24 months so my case was already outside of the normal processing times.
March 2023 - filed a lawsuit against USCIS for unreasonable delay. At that point it had been 54 months since I filed my case.
April 2023 - first-ever RFE.
May 2023 - responded to RFE.
June 2023 - I-360 approved, received EAD - 4 years 9 months after filing.
August 2023 - RFE for medicals for my I-485 case.
September 2023 - I-485 approved, card mailed to me - 5 years after filing.
To all those out there who've been stuck in the waiting game for what feels like an eternity, I genuinely hope your resolution comes very soon. Filing a lawsuit against USCIS is NOT something I'd recommend for everyone because every case and every situation is different. In my case it was a game changer.