> Obtaining a visa is a horribly long, painful, expensive and sometimes humiliating process.
Indeed, as someone who lost a finger when I was a kid, it is humiliating for me every time I go through the US border and the officers order me to place my fingers for "fingerprinting". Particularly when they ask me "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU". I hate traveling to the US and my problem is that I'm stuck on this side of the Atlantic. When I was living in Europe it was a pleasure to travel between countries. They don't assume you are a criminal, and the border officers are more intelligent/educated in Europe (even the ones in places like Bulgaria were cool).