I can't remember whether the application asked for country of licence issue, but I'm wondering if maybe the rejection was because I have a UK CAA licence, not (as of 6 weeks ago) EASA. It seems utter madness to me that there isn't cross-recognition of licences, especially for those issued before the end of the transition period when all training was done under EASA regulations. It seems a political rather than practical decision, but that's a topic for a different thread...