I'm not surprised by this at all. I used to work in the US at at a large international bank with headquarters overseas that preferred having employees from the

I'm not surprised by this at all. I used to work in the US at at a large international bank with headquarters overseas that preferred having employees from the same country as HQ. We would advertise a position, internally or just to alumni networks of unis there. Once we interviewed people and knew who we wanted to hire, there would be a delay because HR would have to advertise the position publicly for at least a week (or two, I forgot), and then we could proceed officially with the hire.