Uk residence card via Surinder singh route rejected as not "in country" application

[ebuk]

Hello all,
I am Non-EU married to British citizen, we got married in UK on fiance visa and soon after moved to Netherlands for his job which is a placement as part of his 4 year phd at UK university. We both have been in the NL together for 2 years and now he needs to move back to continue his phd and i want to accompany him. The company i work for can transfer me to uk branch and therefore we decided to apply directly for the 5 year residence card under the surinder singh route. As my NL residence card was issued under article 10 i do not need to apply for 6 months EEA family permit. We provided all the documents and applied in March now we received refusal letter stating that the application was not made "in country" and that we should go for entry clearance first and then apply from within the uk. It also says that my british spouse did not prove to be exercising UK treaty rights (when he actually is registered student at uk uni and pays student loan in uk etc.) This came as a shock to us as we were honestly expecting the card to be enroute to us. We are given right to appeal but don't know our chances as it literally just mentions that we used incorrect application. A fresh application would affect my transfer. I don't want to leave my permanent good pay job which can easily be transferred to the uk, can anyone of you lovely people advise. Thank you so much in advance!

[vinny]

Where did you apply?

If inside the UK, then apply for a residence card.
If outside the UK, then apply for an EEA family permit.