I've seen some crap from the HO (EU nationals apply for the PR cards which you need if you want to become a British citizen as a first step) but this is truly something...
No worries, the UK will still attract the "brightest and best" with such a good immigration admin system ;)
Sounds about normal. The immigration rules are just not simple and have all sorts of seemingly arbitrary restrictions. The impact they have on the majority of UK voters is nil, so where's the incentive to make it sane?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/04/us-surgeon-may-be-forced-to-quit-uk-because-of-visa-nightmare