When I asked for my UK visa in 2016 (from Perú), I needed to fill out the forms and present bank statements, criminal record (clean!), travel history/old passports, "invitation letter", and inform of my education status among other things.

Then a short in-person interview at the consulate asking why you want to go there and finally submit all that abroad to get kissed by the queen (I think they go only to Colombia now) and get your passport back in a month with no guarantee you'd get it. And if you don't, they don't need to provide reasons. Next time you apply they'll ask if you've been denied before and it adds up.

You have to pay for all the services of course either way.

Thankfully for me, it all worked alright (I applied for a single entry visa to keep it simple), but very little is under your control after you submit the paperwork. Even if all 100% compliant, it is not guaranteed you get approved.

I don't know if the process has streamlined in the last years. I know Canada's visa process has changed quite a bit since the first time I got it in 2014 and my renewal in 2019.

Getting visas is always an humiliating process, where they measure you as a person to be "apt" to visit their country.