Intra-Company Transferee Visa in Japan

Foreign nationals who are going to transfer to business offices in Japan from head offices established in foreign countries must be considering this Intra-Company Transferee visa, which is a common-used visa to flow foreign talents to Japan for a limited period of time between the following companies or organizations:

・between head/branch office and branch office of the same company

・between parent/subsidiary company and subsidiary company

・between subsidiary/sub-subsidiary company and sub-subsidiary company

・between parent company and sub-subsidiary company

・between parent/subsidiary company and affiliated/associated company

Of course the applicant should meet some other conditions, such as that he or she has been engaged in the activities covered by Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa in the foreign company for at least 1 year immediately before the application. We are going to talk about eligible job titles later.

Eligible applicants for Intra-Company Transferee visa

As said above, there should be a business office in both a foreign country and Japan, and them two should have required relationships. The applicant should meet the following requirements:

Working activities and experiences

Has been working at the business office abroad for more than 1 year continuously right before transferring to Japan. Working contents should be applicable to Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa.

Specifically, the Engineer visa requires activities in the field of natural science, such as Software Engineers, System Engineers, Computer Programmers, while the Specialist in Humanities visa requires activities in the field of social science and humanities, such as Accounting, Economic Analyst, Financial Analyst. And the Specialist in International Services visa covers activities that require ways of thinking or sensibilities based on culture and language of foreign countries, such as Translator, Interpreter, Language Instructors or Fashion Designer.

About salary

Must receive equal to or more than that a Japanese national for comparable work may be paid during working at the business office in Japan. Though exact data is not found in the law, it may be more than 200,000 yen per month.

Transfer period

The transfer period should be limited and extendable.

Though Intra-Company Transferee and Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa cover the same work contents, the latter has much stricter requirements than the former on educational and working background, such as bachelor degree in corresponding field or more than 10 years experience in the relevant field, while an eligible applicant for the former is only required to work one year in the field.

Period of stay of Intra-Company Transferee visa

The period of stay is decided by the Immigration Bureau case by case within 5 years, 3 years, 1 year or 3 months. In the case that the holder would like to stay under this visa status after expiration, he or she should apply for a renewal 2 months before.

To apply for Intra-Company Transferee visa

For applicants who are not holding any Japanese visa, a COE (Certificate of Eligibility) should be applied for at the regional immigration office in Japan first. As the applicant is still outside Japan, the resource manager of the Japanese company can apply on behalf of him or her. After the COE issued successfully, the applicant should apply for a visa at the Japanese embassy or consul at his or her home country.

For applicants who are already in Japan under other visa, they should apply for Change of Status of Residence to Intra-Company Transferee at the regional immigration office in Japan, except for Temporary Visitor visa holders, who have to apply for a COE first also.

Required documents

Documents from all the three counterparts are needed.

Documents from the business office outside Japan

・copy of a business license

・materials showing its activities like an annual report

・financial statements for the past fiscal year, or a business plan for the next year if it is a newly opened business

・documents certifying the relationship between it and the business office in Japan

Documents from the business office in Japan

・copy of the corporate registration issued within the last 3 months

・materials describing its business activities like an annual report

・financial statements for the past fiscal year, or a business plan for the next year if it is a newly opened business

Documents from the applicant

・valid passport

・visa application form which can be downloaded from the website

・one photograph attached to application form

・documents showing academic background like a copy of diploma or Certificate of Graduate

・documents showing working experience like CV

・documents showing the details of his or her duties and the duration of employment at the business office abroad like an employment verification letter

・documents certifying the duties, work duration, the position, and the remuneration at the business office in Japan, like a copy of transfer letter or letter of appointment

To work in Japan with Intra-Company Transferee visa

Same as other working visa, Intra-Company Transferee visa holders are only allowed to engage in the activities that they claimed during application for the visa, which means that a Software Engineer can only work in developing software in Japan and not allowed to do simple labor work under this visa status.

While different from other working visa, as Intra-Company Transferee is based on the relationship between companies, holders of this visa are not allowed to change jobs to other companies in Japan, even other subsidiary companies. In one world, foreigners under Intra-Company Transferee visa status are only allowed to work full-timely at the specified company with the specified working contents.

However, there is a permission, which is called Permission to Engage in an Activity Other Than That Permitted by the Status of Residence Previously Granted, allowing holders of this visa to do other kinds of work for less than 28 hours per week except for entertainment businesses. Foreigners can apply for this permission at the airport when landing Japan, or at the regional immigration office in Japan. Note that this permission only has a validity not longer than the visa has, so it is recommended to be updated at the time of visa renewal.