Okay, so let’s talk about what happened to the F1 category in the Philippines. This whole thing started when I noticed something weird a while back. I’m a huge F1 fan, always have been, and back in like, January 2019, things were pretty normal. I remember it was a pretty big deal back then, and I followed it religiously. But then, man, the world went crazy, and everything changed. So I started to search for it.
I tried to find out what happened with the local broadcast of F1 races. It used to be on a certain channel, but then I heard it got moved to a more expensive plan. And honestly, it seemed like our local sports channels didn’t really care about F1 anymore. It felt like it just disappeared overnight. Then I went to search for something else.
I did some digging online and found out that a Filipina, Bianca Bustamante, actually won an F1 Academy race. This was huge news! It got me excited, thinking maybe F1 was making a comeback here. But then I saw she faced a ton of problems because of money and stuff.
Then, I started looking into the whole “F1 category” thing for immigration, ’cause I was curious. Turns out, it’s for unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens who want to get a green card. The cap is like 23,400 per year, which sounds like a lot, but I bet it fills up fast. I also found out it’s not really about what the embassy wants, it is the State Department that sets priority dates, which can make the process even longer. It’s a whole system designed to control the number of visas given out.
The Disappeared F1
- Search for Reason: First I tried to find out why F1 races stopped being popular here.
- Immigration Research: Then I got curious about the F1 visa category and how it works.
- Timeline Check: I looked up old news about F1 in the Philippines to piece together what happened.
After all this searching and reading, I realized a few things. First, the F1 scene in the Philippines just kind of faded away. It wasn’t one big event, but more like a slow decline. Second, the F1 visa category is totally separate and has its own crazy long waiting times. I mean, we’re talking 14-15 years or even more! And the I-130 application? That’s another beast, taking anywhere from 6 months to 10 years to get approved. It’s a mess. And no forward movement for F4-All Countries will be at least summer of 2022. Then I thought maybe F1 is not about the visa.
This whole experience was kind of a letdown, to be honest. I miss watching F1 on TV, and the whole visa thing is just depressing. But hey, at least I learned something new, right? And who knows, maybe F1 will make a comeback here someday. A guy can dream, can’t he?
