Intra-company Transferee

Eligibility requirements

• The employee must be transferred from an overseas head office, branch or other qualifying establishment to an organisation in Japan within the recognised corporate relationship.
• Immediately before the transfer, the employee normally must have continuously undertaken the relevant professional duties abroad for at least one year. Check any special counting rules on the actual facts.
• The Japanese assignment must be for a defined period and involve activities corresponding to Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services. Ordinary manual work is not covered by labelling it an internal transfer.
• Remuneration must be at least equivalent to that paid to a Japanese worker doing comparable work. The employer’s business and assignment arrangements need to be credible.

Legal framework

Build the evidence

Prepare records that substantiate the relevant criteria. The final checklist depends on the applicant, route and filing authority.

• A group chart supported by registration, ownership and relationship documents for the sending and receiving entities.
• Employment certificates, payroll and job descriptions establishing the continuous overseas qualifying-service period.
• The transfer letter and assignment terms showing Japanese location, period, actual duties, compensation and reporting structure.
• Japanese entity registration, business information and category-specific financial/tax records, together with passport and family documents if relevant.

How to apply

1. 01

   Confirm the transfer structure

   WG identifies the legal entities, the group relationship and the intended assignment period. This is separate from assessing whether the individual’s duties qualify.

2. 02

   Validate the service year

   Build a dated work history with role descriptions and employer confirmation. Resolve gaps, leave periods and changes of group employer with Japanese advice before choosing the route.

3. 03

   Prepare and submit the COE dossier

   The receiving organisation and authorised local professional assemble the current immigration forms and corporate and employee exhibits. The subsequent visa stage follows the responsible mission’s instructions.

4. 04

   Control the assignment lifecycle

   Record permitted work, expiry, location, compensation and reporting obligations. Reassess extensions, changes of entity or a move to a permanent local role before the facts depart from the approved plan.

After approval & family planning

• Extension is an application based on continued eligibility, not automatic continuation of a global assignment letter.
• A local long-term hire may be better assessed under Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services; that route has different qualification tests.
• Eligible spouses and children may apply for Dependent status, with separate restrictions on employment.

Frequently asked questions

Points to consider

• A secondment agreement cannot by itself establish the required corporate relationship or qualifying duties.