Is it such a big del to get a visa? They are normaly for ten years and I got my last one on the same day after a couple of hours.
Yes and no. An M1 is not valid for 10 years, only for the course of study related to the visa application. I agree B1/B2's are easy to get, and indeed you MUST have one of these if you no longer qualify for the visa waiver program.
My own feeling is that you do not need an M1 visa to add a SES rating to your FAA licence for the reasons posted by n5296s. Also because the course of study is going to be less than 18 hours per week you shouldn't need an M1 anyway, but there is a lot of debate about this and many "schools" will get you a visa anyway just to cover their arse..To "upgrade" from PPL to CPL you do not need a visa - you can already fly, you're just improving your skills, as is adding a SES rating.
Another thing, the only schools (
AFAIK) that are authorised by the US INS for visa applications are part 141 schools - Jo Bloggs floatplane school at Laughlin won't be able to issue an application for an M1. If you phone the US Embassy £20 per minute help line, they will instantly think of an American Airlines captain under training and say yes of course you need a visa, where as if you read all of the information on the net about this subject it is pretty obvious that you do not need a visa for quite a lot of "flight training"....