What is the Visa Bulletin?
The one-paragraph version
The Visa Bulletin is a monthly report from the U.S. Department of State that tells green-card applicants whether they can move forward. Because more people apply than there are visas each year, applicants wait in line by priority date. The bulletin publishes the cutoff date for each category and country — if your priority date is earlier than the cutoff, you're up.
Priority dates, explained
Your priority date is your place in line — usually the day your employer filed your labor certification or petition. It never changes, but the cutoff in front of it moves month to month.
If EB-2 India's cutoff is 01 Jan 2013 and your priority date is 15 Jun 2019, you keep waiting until the cutoff passes your date.
Final Action vs Dates for Filing
Each month publishes two charts. Dates for Filing lets you submit paperwork early; Final Action Dates is when a green card can actually be issued. Most applicants watch the Final Action chart, since that's the one that grants status.
Why some categories are stuck
Per-country caps limit each country to roughly 7% of the annual total. For high-demand countries like India and China, that produces backlogs measured in years — sometimes decades — even as smaller countries stay current.