It’s actually pretty damn hard. It’s even harder to get an immigrant Visa these days. Let me tell you a story.
I have a cousin in Ukraine who is trying to get into the US. His wife, is currently residing in the US, via greencard.
She was giving birth in September, and he was trying to get here for the birth on a temporary Visa and then go back. He went to the Kiev embassay 3 times and got rejected 3 times because “he couldn’t prove that he has enough socioeconomic ties to the Ukraine that would force him to return”. I even had our Congressmen look into this issue and contact Kiev (and they did because I got an email from Kiev stating that they were contacted by my politician).
Vladimir would go into the interview room, they would ask his name and why he wants into the US, and then denied him without anymore questioning. They were supposed to ask him for documentation of various things to backup his socioeconomic standing, etc. (the man owns 3 apartments, and 3 taxis totaling more than $100k - more than most Americans will ever own to their name in a lifetime). He was denied on the interviewers personal opinion of him, rather than the interview results.
He never got here. She gave birth. He won’t see the kid until the kid is at least 6 months old (or more) since you can’t fly with an infant until a certain time has passed. F’in BS. I was furious, but there is nothing you can do. The US doesn’t even have jurisdiction in it’s own fricken Embassy’s. Those people report to the Consul General and the Consul General only. The congressman’s office basically told me they can’t do much but monitor the situation to make sure all the laws are followed, and Kiev obviously has ways to make that happen without it actually happening.
EDIT: Also, he’s already on the list to get permanent residency in the US. I told this to the consul general when I spoke with him and basically told him, “Why the frick would he jeopardize a legal chance to be here by staying illegally?” Still didn’t make a difference. No is no to them and that’s it.