INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFEREE is a VISA STATUS to be applicable to an employee (expat) sent from the head office, the branch office or other related office outside Japan to the related office in Japan for a limited period.

Types of job allowed for INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFEREE is limited – job responsibilities must be related to the work which is allowed under ENGINEER/SPECIALIST in HUMANITIES/INT’L SERVICES (ENGINEER/HUMANITIES) visa status;
>> ENGINEER/SPECIALIST in HUMANITIES/INT’L SERVICES

EXAMPLES of TRANSFER

Transfer must be conducted between related companies such as:

  • transfer within the same company (head office to branch, branch to branch)
  • transfer between parent company and subsidiary company.
  • transfer between subsidiary.
  • transfer between subsidiary and sub-subsidiary.
  • transfer between sub-subsidiary.
  • transfer between parent company and sub-subsidiary.
  • transfer between parent/subsidiary company and affiliated/associated company (*)

* Please ask us for further details and provide the information of the shareholders (ratio of shares) and the company structure of sending company and accepting company.

IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH VISA PROCEDURES IN JAPAN, JUMP TO INTRODUCTORY PAGES BELOW FIRST:

Contents
  1. BASIC REQUIREMENTS
  2. POINTS TO NOTE
  3. HOW to PROCESS
  4. PERIOD of STAY
  5. BASIC REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
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BASIC REQUIREMENTS

Immigration Office judges your eligibility for INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFEREE visa status comprehensively – In order to be eligible for INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFEREE, your work experience and circumstance need to meet the basic requirements.

Here’s the list of basic requirements for INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFEREE;

Basic criteria

Regardless of which visa status you apply for, you need to satisfy basic criteria first;
>> WHAT IS VISA STATUS?

Condition

Your condition has to satisfy all items listed below;

  • AMOUNT of SALARY: You should receive the same amount of salary or more as a Japanese national who engages in the same or related job responsibility. It is considered that you should be paid 200,000yen or more monthly on average to make living in Japan.
  • PERIOD of TRANSFER: The period of transfer to Japan must be limited (but extendable by applying for EXTENSION of PERIOD of STAY.

Type of Activity and Career Requirement

  • You have been working at the sending company for at least 1 year continuously right before the COE APPLICATION.
  • Occupation and job responsibility of INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFEREE must be limited to the scope of job allowed under ENGINEER/HUMANITIES visa status;
    >> ENGINEER/SPECIALIST in HUMANITIES/INT’L SERVICES

VISA SPONSOR (Accepting organization/company in Japan)

  • Capital relationship must be found between accepting organization/company in Japan and sending company overseas and the relationship must be proved by the documents (e.g. shareholders’ list, certificate of company registration issued by the authorities etc.)
  • Your visa sponsor must be recognized that they do the business properly, stably and continually. Also, they must be financially stable enough to employ you and other staff. If your visa sponsor is a newly established entity, 1-year business plan will be required to prove the business stability.
  • The physical office space must be found in Japan and the business must be operated at the office space.
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POINTS TO NOTE

Possibility of Other Visa Status

HIGHLY SKILLED PROFESSIONAL (HSP)
in case you satisfy the requirements for INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFEREE as well as you are applicable to HSP, you should apply for HSP to benefit by a preferential Immigration treatment.
>> HIGHLY SKILLED PROFESSIONAL (HSP)

In Case that you are the CEO or Representative Director

In Case that you are the CEO or Representative Director who has authority to execute business of the head office of the company overseas, you are NOT applicable to INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFEREE. Instead, you have to apply for BUSINESS MANAGER.

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HOW to PROCESS

In case you are currently residing outside Japan yet or you are staying in Japan as a TEMPORARY VISITOR:
>> COE APPLICATION

In case you have been living in Japan under specific status and holding RESIDENCE CARD already:
>> CHANGE of VISA STATUS

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PERIOD of STAY

Each visa status has the expiration date – you can stay in Japan under the visa status during the specific period stated on Residence Card issued by Immigration Office.

Period of stay shall be decided by Immigration Office depends on the applicant’s circumstance, and it shall be either of 5 years, 3 years, 1 year or 3 months. The period of stay is granted by the Immigration Office based on each case and situation.

In case you wish to extend the period of stay granted, you may apply for EXTENSION of PERIOD of STAY before the expiry date.
>> EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF STAY (VISA RENEWAL)

In case you would like to travel outside Japan temporarily under the visa status.
>> RE-ENTRY PERMIT

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BASIC REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

The immigration office considers your eligibility for the visa status by your situation/career and by documents you provide. You are required to prepare documents which certify that the contents of the application are true and correct. The Immigration Office will request at any time if they have any questions or would like to confirm the information you provided case by case.

Specific documents are varied depending on the situation of each applicant and the host organization/company, however, the basic documents for this visa status are as follows;

In case of COE APPLICATION and CHANGE of VISA STATUS

  1. Application form
  2. Photo
  3. [In case of CHANGE of VISA STATUS] Residence Card and Passport
  4. Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax (給与所得の源泉徴収票等の法定調書合計表)
  5. Documents to certify your transfer and conditions of the transfer;
    • Letter of Appointment (your position, job responsibility, terms of transfer and salary has to be stated)
    • [In case of making contract with the accepting company in Japan] Employment Contract or Notice of Employment
  6. Documents to certify your work experience at the sending company overseas;
    • CV
    • Employment Certificate issued by the sending organization/company to certify your occupation, job responsibility, terms of employment and salary
  7. Documents to certify the relationship between sending organization/company and accepting organization/company; e.g. List of Shareholders to certify the capital relationship
  8. Documents to certify your visa sponsor and its business;
    • Certificate of Company Register
    • Company Overview
    • Company leaflet (if any)
  9. Financial Statement as of the latest fiscal year-end
  10. [In case that the contracting company has not filed any tax return yet] Business Plan for at least 1 complete fiscal year
  11. In case that the company cannot provide Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax (給与所得の源泉徴収票等の法定調書合計表);
    • Notification of the establishment of salary payment office submitted to Tax Office (給与支払事務所設置届出書)
    • Payment slip for Withholding Tax (for the past 3 months) or Application for Payment of Withholding Income Tax on a Semiannual submitted to Tax Office
  12. In case that the company does not need to submit 10 above since the company is exempted from tax withholding;
    • Certificate of Exemption from Tax Withholding regarding foreign corporation (外国法人の源泉徴収に対する免除証明書) and/or documents to clarify the reason why the company doesn’t require the tax withholding

In case of EXTENTION of PERIOD of STAY

  1. Application form
  2. Photo
  3. Residence Card and Passport
  4. Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax (給与所得の源泉徴収票等の法定調書合計表)
  5. Tax/Income Certificate and Tax Payment Certificate for the latest year’s Resident Tax (直近の住民税の課税・所得証明書および納税証明書)

NOTE / REMARK

  • All the documents written in foreign languages need to attach the Japanese translation.
  • Additional documents may be requested by the Immigration Office during the screening.
  • Some documents may be exempted in case your visa sponsor is classified under specific categories as follows: 1) listed corporation, government related organization, Independent administrative institution and other organization specified in this category 2) the total amount of annual withholding tax on the latest “Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax (給与所得の源泉徴収票等の法定調書合計表)” counts 10 million JPY or more, 3) your visa sponsor can submit a copy of the latest “Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax”.
  • Any certificate issued by the Japanese authorities (Tax/Income Certificate, Certificate of Residence, Certificate of Company Register etc.) has to be the one issued within 3 months before the date of application.
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