The opaqueness of the US system is pretty high.
I do agree that other places have bigger problems. There won’t be too many conferences in Saudi Arabia I bet.
Typically when I file for visas I have to give detailed statements of all my bank accounts, all my investments, my income tax statements for the last 3 years, a list of all the places I’ve travelled, medical insurance, a letter from my employer guaranteeing that I’ll be back and god knows what else. This was for an Australian visa btw, that allows visa free travel if you’re American, Canadian or European.
That’s not even the half of it. A friend of mine applied for a Schenghen visa for a 6 day trip and got a 5 day visa. The border agent then harassed him on his way out for “overstaying” his visa.
Heaven forbid that people with privilege are subjected to the horrors of filling forms.
I have a small suspicion that those who decided for that never set foot in the countries considered for this (though I might be wrong).
Though it is undeniable that there is talent there and we should try to make things easier to them, there is a limit and a compromise in making things not harder for other people as well.
As someone familiar with 3rd world country business, a lot of things people take for granted is not trivial