I just looked into the visa application procedure for my internship. Holy crap, that's a lot of red tape, and expensive

First fill out four forms, fax them to the university, get one form back. Pay some 180$ fee, fill in yet another form. Call the consulate (they charged 15€ for a single fucking phonecall), arrange a meeting, drop by. Pay another 130$ for the application itself, drop off passport and an envelope with €7 worth of stamps on it. Oh, and get new photos because the standard dutch pass photos are no good for american visa. And then hope you get it, and if you don't: no refund.