Is there a bigger scam than the Visa?

I'm not talking about the credit-card with the high APR which got you suckered in as a college kid but the stamp you have to get in your passport for the privilege to fly to a country.

I have spent 10 hours trying to get a visa for a flight to China. There is a ton of paperwork including some invitation letter you need to apply but at the end of the day the process is a complete rubber stamp. At the Chinese consulate they probably process 5000 of these per day and there is no way they are doing anything more than a casual look. The issue isn't even the inconvenience but the fact they charge you $140 for the process.

You pay them to visit their country, buy their goods and services and eat their horrible food and drink their EColi stained water. As if the Chinese don't have enough of our green-backs, there is no rhyme or reason to the process other than greed.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry